Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

To be constructive, I wish to make a point on this issue. I understand that NGOs have been more or less told to make preliminary plans on the basis of a 70% allocation and some of them have been trying to respond in this regard. I note the annual audit report of 2008 places significant emphasis, for example, on what one might call the improvement of on-site financial reporting from the different recipient countries. While I do not argue against this, it is not at the top of my priorities. It might be valuable to consider how goals are established in such recipient countries as to what is most valuable to them. However, my most important point is that there should be dialogue between the Department and its recipient NGOs to ensure that the number of people engaged in projects is not lost to avoid severe disruptions to the programmes. Consequently, even if a programme is thinner, at least the people working in it will not be lost. This is a terribly important point.

I will make a final point because this is my only opportunity. I am worried about the inability of the Department to respond to disasters associated with climate change. For example, the position in northern Kenya is serious. The animals there have been lost as the effects of drought and famine have meant that people are killing elephants to eat their flesh, apart from stealing the ivory. The Department should be able to respond immediately, even if the Kenyan Government is slow to make an appeal for assistance.

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