Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit agus ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis arís. Obviously, the target of 0.7% of gross national product for ODA was set in 2000 and for various reasons, some of which were valid, successive Governments have never achieved that target. My issue with regard to the programme for partnership Government is that it does not set out any type of roadmap to achieve this but merely states: "We will continue to make progress towards achieving the UN target of 0.7% of gross national product for ODA." In budget 2016, a total of €640 million is provided for official development aid assistance. This represents a small increase of approximately €40 million, which will bring the amount up to approximately 0.36%, and we are way behind the curve in this regard. As a Parliament and as a Government, we should commit to this target. It is a good thing to do and it is appropriate, morally right and just to so do. I ask the Minister of State to outline in greater detail how it is intended to move towards that target over the term of the Government.

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