Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and Defence for undertaking this timely review of Ireland’s development co-operation. I am pleased that Oireachtas Members have borne witness to the great work which the Irish Aid programme does in tackling poverty and in responding to humanitarian crises and natural disasters. As a people, we can be proud of the work which is done in challenging places to improve the lives of those less fortunate than us, and which helps build a more just and peaceful world, which is needed now more than ever.

Ours is an interconnected world. Global climate events, such as the hurricanes in the Caribbean or drought in east Africa, and our own recent stark weather episodes, tell us that we need to act in common with others to address the challenges of our generation. The Ebola crisis of 2014-2015 was a reminder of the need for functioning public health systems in our neighbouring continent. Ireland was able to respond, quickly and effectively, and make a significant contribution to stemming the flow of the disease. That was important for the people of Sierra Leone and the other affected countries. It was also important for the people of Ireland. A safer, more peaceful, sustainable and equal world is in Ireland’s fundamental interest as a small country with an open economy in an ever more challenging and uncertain world.

The sense of sharing the planet informed the negotiation of the sustainable development goals, SDGs, also known as Agenda 2030. Adopted by the United Nations in 2015, following a process in which Ireland played a significant role in helping broker agreement, the SDGs set an ambitious set of targets. All countries, including Ireland, are expected to respond to the challenge domestically, but also in our foreign policy.

The joint committee has rightly situated its review of the Irish Aid programme in the context of the sustainable development goals. These 17 goals set a framework for the work of Irish Aid for the coming decade and beyond. This ambition speaks to our whole-of-Government approach to international development, which draws on the roles and strengths of all Government Departments.

The world has changed over the past decade and a new approach and fresh thinking are needed for the way forward. That is why I announced in October last year that the Government will produce a new White Paper on international development this year. This paper will build on our existing development co-operation programme and further strengthen its alignment to the SDGs. The White Paper will also inform an ambitious pathway towards making greater but sustainable progress on the UN target of providing 0.7% of GNI to official development assistance. It will take time but I am absolutely committed to outlining a way to get there.

Reaching the 0.7% target will involve significant increases to the ODA budget and requires careful planning and consultation with other Departments and stakeholders.

The joint committee report underscored that a firm commitment to achieving this target is critical to the future of overseas development. I appeal to the Deputy and to others in this House to support me politically in our efforts to do that. Without all-party support or close to it, this will be a difficult political target to achieve. It is going to involve a multi-annual commitment that will involve multiple Governments.

I am acutely aware of pressures and challenges at home in Ireland and that competition for budgetary resources is real. However, we must not forget that Ireland’s aid programme is not just good policy because we know aid works, but is also a reflection of our values, our belief in our common humanity and solidarity, and our understanding that wealth and opportunity are not spread equally across the world. We in Ireland have benefited from assistance and investment in the past, and we too have a responsibility to give poor and marginalised people in other countries a better future. Furthermore, an effective development co-operation programme is an important foreign policy tool in its own right, informing our wider diplomacy and helping Ireland influence others to adopt policy positions which reflect the values we represent and objectives we hold dear. It must be accompanied too by political dialogue between Europe and Africa that is fit for purpose, reflecting the huge shared challenges we face together in areas like migration, climate change and the eradication of poverty, as well as food and water security, regional conflict and so much else.

In its review conclusions, the joint committee highlighted the positive reputation of the Irish Aid programme. Its high quality was a recurring theme in discussions with stakeholders. I am delighted that some committee members had an opportunity to visit two of the countries in Africa in which we work, where they were able to witness first-hand the results of Ireland’s aid programme. These visits fed into the review’s endorsement of that positive reputation and its view, which I share, that our continued focus should be on quality, untied aid which addresses the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people and communities, wherever they may be. Despite tremendous progress in reducing poverty around the world in recent decades, with over 100,000 people a day moving from extreme poverty, there remains a need for effective development co-operation and for modernisation in terms of our approach. Too many still live in poverty. Countries such as Ethiopia, which I visited a number of months ago, have to create as many new jobs each year as there are people at work in Ireland; such is the demographic movement to which Ethiopia must respond in terms of the number of young people coming into the workforce.

Part of the strength of Ireland’s programme is that it is deeply rooted in our own experiences and values. Hunger and undernutrition have long been a major priority for Irish development co-operation and Ireland has gained international recognition for its work in this area. On a visit to Kenya in November I saw how, by sharing Ireland’s experience of good seed technology, good science and good farming, local potato crop yields have the potential to increase dramatically.

Much of Ireland’s own success can be attributed to our well-educated workforce, and we have traditionally played a strong, respected role in education in many parts of Africa. In Uganda, Irish Aid has focused on the poverty-stricken Karamoja district, and has provided bursaries for 1,000 secondary school students and 40 university students from the poorest families, to enable them to continue their education. In Sierra Leone, Ireland has advocated for the rights of pregnant girls who were excluded from attending school, and supported them to continue their education. With our support, social protection has expanded to cover nearly 450,000 households in Mozambique, a country whose vast rural population still feels the effects and devastation of war, and provided social benefit to 150,000 senior citizens in Uganda. Tiny amounts of money - mere cents monthly - mean that children can stay in school, or older people have some dignity.

The joint committee in its review report takes note of the escalation in conflict-driven humanitarian crises. Ireland has responded worldwide through our humanitarian work, peacekeeping and disarmament, as well as sharing lessons from our own peace process. We are reminded daily of the tremendous suffering in Syria, and in response Ireland has provided over €93 million since 2012 to alleviate suffering in Syria, primarily focusing on supporting refugees. However, other crises continue, equally appalling in terms of human suffering but often forgotten. I refer to places like Sudan, Yemen, DRC and the Central African Republic. Ireland’s support is vital here too. We stand fully behind the UN Secretary General’s vision to place conflict prevention and sustaining peace at the heart of the UN’s mandate. The motivation and rationale is sound. It is easier and more effective, if not always as visible, to prevent rather than react to crises. Where intervention is necessary, political advocacy in working to resolve conflicts should prevail in the first instance.

Responding to catastrophes is complex and requires us to work in partnership with organisations that have a presence on the ground. Funding is channelled through multinational actors such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN central emergency response fund. This allows Ireland to pool its response with others for maximum impact. Ireland also works with NGOs, both Irish and international. We are very proud of their record and reputation too. Civil society organisations play an important role in development. Ireland is home to many excellent organisations whose experiences enrich our analysis and with which we partner in a number of countries and contexts. Our missionaries also play their part in this and we value and applaud their contribution over many decades.

As the joint committee has recognised, it is important too that we inform the Irish public about the programme. After all, it is their money that we are spending. As part of the process to develop a new White Paper on international development we will shortly be launching a public consultation process on the White Paper, involving both public meetings and online opportunities to input, and we look forward to a high level of public engagement.

The review report of the joint committee highlights the global challenges we face. As we look to set the priorities for our future development funding so that it is ready for the 2020s, this report helps set the scene for the next generation of policy priorities.

After hearing the speech of the Chairman of the committee, I am glad to say that I think we share a lot of similar values and priorities in this area and I look forward to working with the committee and with others in this House in the context of getting that consultation process right and hopefully also in the context of getting the budgetary commitments we are going to need to start moving our aid contribution in the right direction.

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