Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Yes. The EU plays a very significant role in Nepal. The EU engagement centres around three focal areas, education, stability and peace building. It has allocated €60 million to funding projects that address these issues. We have had some criticism of the EU today but it is equally important to point to where it plays a positive role. The statistics about the humanitarian situation there are extremely grave. Its child malnutrition rates are among the worst in the world. Approximately 8 million Nepalese continue to live at or below the poverty line. There was an appalling rise in food prices last year, which compounded that. Approximately 2.7 million depend on food assistance. There are very serious and severe issues and through Irish Aid we will do what we can with the authorities in New Delhi and elsewhere to try to make our contribution to alleviating some of the horrific poverty people endure there on a daily basis.

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