Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I am confident. I met a host of civil society organisations, including LGBTI representatives, when I visited Uganda. While I said that other countries had cut off aid, they have not cut off aid entirely. They have made cuts in their aid or they have suspended elements of it. This is the case for Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. Ireland has not done so and has continued to provide aid. In our view we have taken the right path because Uganda is a very poor society to which Ireland has contributed significantly. I refer to our aid to education in the Karamoja area in the north of Uganda, which is exceedingly poor. We bypassed the government when making that contribution and it has been made to the poorest of the poor. We have also aided other projects.

On my invitation, the Auditor General of Uganda will visit Ireland. He will address the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and will make a number of public statements. There will be an opportunity to hear from him as the officeholder who was funded. The only funding given to any agency of the Ugandan Government is given to bolster and boost the office of the Auditor General to ensure that he can continue the good work. It was this office which discovered the fraud and brought it to the Prime Minister's office. It is a strong, independent office, and we will be able to hear for ourselves the views of that officeholder.

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