Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to have this topical issue chosen today and I thank the Minister for coming into the Chamber to participate personally in the short debate. I have just come from Dublin Castle, where the European Year of Development was launched at the Dóchas conference by the President. I tabled this matter today to coincide with that event because I am conscious that often, when one has European years of this or that to highlight a particular issue, they are announced with a great splurge of publicity but then sink without trace and in many cases, that is the last one hears of them. I am anxious, as I am sure is the Minister, that this would not be the fate of the European Year of Development but that the potential benefits of the designation would be maximised to enhance and promote the development agenda and to spread the word about development co-operation.

What the EU Foreign Affairs Council had in mind in designating this European Year of Development was that we would communicate to European citizenry what is happening in the area of development co-operation and identify needs and what has been achieved. This is the first year a European Year has been designated to the celebration of something that goes beyond the borders of Europe. We have always been a little bit more inward looking. We now have an opportunity to highlight Europe's role as a global player. It certainly is a global player when it comes to development co-operation in that 50% of all world development aid comes from Europe. Ireland has played its part and has been always a generous contributor in direct aid, through its NGOs and multilateral aid through the EU and UN. If the generosity of the Irish people, through their support for development aid which has persisted even in the face of the very deepest domestic recession, is to continue it is important the they understand this generosity is not wasted and that money is being well spent and to good effect in the developing world. Feedback is vital.

I raise this issue today in part to highlight the importance of development aid but also to inquire of the Minister if there are plans this year to use this event to communicate to the Irish people the beneficial outcomes of their generosity, both as taxpayers and as direct contributors to our NGOs. Like me, many people, including, I am sure, the Minister, have donated money to development aid, which when we were children was known as aid for the black babies. There may be a perception that because this has been going on for so long it is a case of putting money into a black hole and nothing ever seems to get better. That is far from being the case. There is a good news story to tell and we should tell it.

This year of development is chosen, as the Minister will be aware, to coincide with the deadline for the achievement of the millennium development goals. One of the advantages of having goals, targets and indicators is that we can measure the progress that has been made, as well as identify what needs to be done. Progress has been made. There are now fewer people hungry in the world, the number of people now living in extreme poverty, as compared with the number in the 1990s has halved, more children, particularly girls, go to school and fewer women die in childbirth. There is more to do. It is important we use this opportunity to communicate the positive message that with a good plan, backed by funding, we can succeed. In this way, we can engage public support for the achievement of the millennium development goals.

See this speech in context