Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the final issue raised by the Deputy, the matter is on the agenda for discussion at this week's meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

It will continue to be accorded prominence on agendas for the forthcoming months.

Regarding the post-2015 development goals, our ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. David Donoghue, will play a most prominent role by chairing the negotiations and discussions leading up to the announcement of the post-2015 plan, the target date for which is September 2015.

Dóchas has been awarded €26,000 in support of its role as national co-ordinator of the Irish action plan for the European year, in addition to the sum of €113,000 received directly from the European Commission. As per standard practice, Dóchas will report on the use of funds, including outlining a programme of activities, as well as the results of the work plan at the end of the project’s period. Brian Hayes, MEP, has been appointed to the development committee of the European Parliament. I wish him well in that regard and look forward to receiving reports from him in due course.

The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s overseas aid programme which is at the heart of our foreign policy. This reaffirms our commitment to achieving the UN target of 0.7% of gross national product, GNP, to official development assistance, once economic circumstances permit. Since coming into office and in the context of difficult economic circumstances, the Government has successfully stabilised official development assistance aid including the budget aid programme. In budget 2015, the Government protected the aid budget providing for a total of allocation for overseas development aid of over €600 million. This demonstrates the Government's commitment to the aid programme and represents a significant contribution on behalf of the people of Ireland to assist those in the world who are less fortunate than ourselves.

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