Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Failing to have an agreement does not mean that Ireland should give up on this issue. An interesting report produced recently by Action Aid examines the difference between the rates of 5% and 7%. The difference is such that if the former was adopted, over 68 million people could be fed. It is all very well to say we might have the lower cap by 2020, but by then how many more people will have died from hunger? I acknowledge what the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Irish Aid do to relieve hunger, but it is as if we are giving with one hand and taking back with the other. I urge the Government not to take the issue of the cap off the agenda and to continue to argue for a figure of 5%. Ireland should join the group with the United Kingdom and the other member states which are supporting a cap of 5%; it should not regard 7% as a compromise.

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