Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

In my reply to the previous question I set out in some detail the important issues the Government is facing in implementing the adjustments to the aid programme which are now required. As I pointed out, with an overall allocation of €696 million in 2009, Ireland will again be the sixth most generous aid donor internationally in per capita terms. We will deliver on our commitment to resume the expansion of the programme once we have got our economy back into a pattern of sustainable growth. In the past six years alone Ireland has contributed in excess of €4 billion in ODA. By any standard this is a very significant achievement and one of which we should acknowledge and for which we should take some credit.

In reducing the aid budget for this year there will inevitably be an impact on funding across the programme. We are at present identifying the necessary changes, consistent with the central priority of our aid programme, which is the reduction of global poverty and hunger in the poorest countries in the world, especially in Africa.

Ireland provides assistance to more than 90 developing countries and we have a commitment to long-term strategic assistance in nine programme countries. Although funding adjustments will be required and the timeframes for the disbursement of some funding will need to be extended, we will maintain the overall commitments we have entered into with these countries.

As I have mentioned, an important report on Ireland's aid programme will be published shortly by the OECD development assistance committee. It states clearly that the concentration of Ireland's development assistance on a limited number of poor countries is one of its main strengths and that the programme's attention to local priorities is appreciated by developing country partners. It confirms that the proportion of bilateral spending devoted by Ireland to the poorest countries has been both high and remarkably constant over the years, and very significantly higher than the average for all major international aid donors.

This independent, international recognition of Ireland's record is well earned, not just by the official aid programme, but also by the consistent generosity shown over the years by the Irish people. The changes, which we must now make, will be implemented in a manner that sustains the Irish record in the developing world and our commitment to a disproportionate Irish contribution to the fight against global hunger and poverty.

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