Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I share the Minister's concern on this issue. My question was submitted some time ago and I know the issue has been well ventilated in recent days at the meetings of the Oireachtas Committee Joint on Foreign Affairs on Trade and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs and in statements made by the Minister. I share his concern about the misappropriation of €4 million in aid funding. My main concern is the impact this will have on the confidence of taxpayers in the provision of Irish aid. The Minister has come out strongly on this issue and the fact that the Auditor General of Uganda picked up on the misappropriation of funds is positive. Therefore, there is a positive side to the story. The incident shines a light on the work of Irish Aid in Uganda and the fact that in recent years the level of poverty has been halved and the incidence of HIV-AIDS has been reduced from 18% to 6%. Positive things are happening owing to the efforts of development agencies such as Irish Aid and others. Some groups will argue that this aid should not have passed through government channels but through NGOs. However, it was the Auditor General of Uganda who discovered the misappropriation, which is a positive argument for ensuring aid is channelled through the Ugandan Government. Reassurance is required. Yesterday I suggested at the committee that Irish Aid facilitate access to information from auditors in the Department and provide documentation on the issue. It is important that we examine the scheme in place for the delivery of the aid. Are there lessons we can learn from this incident? People want to hear that it will not happen again and structures must be put in place to minimise this possibility.

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