Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The situation is dire in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. There are approximately one billion people who go to bed hungry every day. There are various epidemics, particularly that of HIV-AIDS. Our legacy of hunger since the Famine is part and parcel of who and what we are and because of that we do the best we can possibly do for those who are so much less well off than we are. That is context of Irish Aid. At the same time, we have an obligation to the Irish taxpayer to ensure the money is well spent. The diversion of €4 million in Uganda is a good example of how Ireland deals with such a situation when it occurs. We pursue the matter immediately. The Tánaiste directed straight away that the director of Irish Aid proceed to Uganda, that we examine the situation and demand that the money be restored and that we check out the facilities in place. We discovered that the Auditor General there had been trained by Irish Aid assistants, and it was he who determined what funds had gone missing. The money was restored before Christmas and we have indicated quite clearly that we will be examining all the mechanisms in place to ensure that something of this nature does not happen again. That is being done. This shows that the Irish Aid mechanisms fulfil their intended purpose, and we will ensure this is the case in every country with which we deal.

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