Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have been to Tanzania and Mozambique which has given me the opportunity to see quite a number of our programmes. It is important to go out into the field to see how they operate. We have a very high quality list of programmes, particularly in the areas of health, education and agriculture. Our track record is regarded as second to none in the OECD assessment of overseas development programmes.

The recommendation of the Committee of Public Accounts was to establish a post of chief financial officer. Appointing one to deal with our various programmes is being looked at and I hope the Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform will be prepared to allow the appointment to take place.

The €4 million siphoned off in Uganda was paid back fully before Christmas and an investigation into the matter continues. Funding was taken back into the Irish account. The moneys will be used for the purposes intended to assist the poorest in Uganda and will not go through the Ugandan Government offices but through the Irish bilateral programmes and non-governmental organisations. We are anxious that the people of Uganda will not suffer as a result of what happened owing to the misappropriation of a certain amount of funding from the Irish Government, as well as from the Governments of Norway and Denmark. We are anxious to ensure lessons are learned.

The audit and evaluation unit visited the area in question to robustly deal with the issues involved before the other countries affected did so. We hope this lesson will be applied to all other missions. As I stated, our embassy staff met the Secretary General to discuss future safeguards. The Committee of Public Accounts' evaluation, with my visit to Mozambique, will be taken into consideration in considering the future direction of overseas development funding.

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