Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Can the Tánaiste say exactly how much money will be saved by the withdrawal of the resident ambassador to the Holy See? Were there no other options to make what in total is a savings of approximately €1 million - €1.2 million - out of €150 million spent in overheads in the Department? Will the Tánaiste not agree that the €500 million expenditure on Irish Aid is very important and that much of this funding goes to sub-Saharan Africa, where the church, for example, is involved in 25% of the health care providers and where 12 million young children attend church schools? In that connection, does he not agree that our contribution to Irish Aid is very important? Does he not believe that a connection with an organisation that has 1.3 billion people or 17% of the population of the world as adherents, which has 220,000 parishes throughout the world-----

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