Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Government is committed to giving effect to the recommendations of the report of the hunger task force which we commissioned and which was launched by the Taoiseach at the UN in New York in September 2008 in the presence of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In particular, we continue to work on the three priority areas identified, namely, increasing smallholder agricultural productivity in Africa; targeting under-nutrition, especially maternal and infant; and promoting governance and leadership action on tackling global hunger.

Combating hunger is one of the cornerstones of our development programme and our foreign policy. We are making good progress in implementing the recommendations of the hunger task force report across the overseas development assistance programme funded and delivered through my Department. Ireland's special envoy on hunger, Kevin Farrell, will report on delivery against our objectives later this year. We have undertaken to direct approximately 20% of my Department's Irish Aid budget at hunger and hunger related actions by 2012. We are firmly on track to meet this target notwithstanding the current difficult economic circumstances.

Irish Aid funding for global hunger initiatives, including pro-poor agricultural research, is expected to reach €9.7 million this year. Global hunger initiatives are just one area of the overall response to hunger. Additional resources are now being focused on hunger reduction initiatives in our programme countries, particularly Malawi and Tanzania.

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