Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Pringle. It has to be acknowledged that Ireland has a special relationship with Africa and that began with the work of many missionaries in education and health. That work has been enhanced and added to by the various Irish NGOs. Central to that work has been community empowerment in those countries in Africa, so that their citizens are providing the education, health and social services that are vital. I have been a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade since 2009 and from that and my involvement with the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa, AWEPA, I know the respect for Ireland that exists in those countries in the global south.

It has been mentioned that the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence did a review of our aid programme. We produced it back in February 2018 and after many months it eventually got approximately 30 minutes' debate in the Chamber. Then it was adjourned and has not reappeared. I cannot help contrasting that with the time being given to the African Development Bank. We have three hours now and if that is not enough there will be more hours tomorrow or Thursday. Banking matters obviously take precedence over our overseas development aid, ODA. The committee's conclusions and recommendations recognised and strongly supported the central focus within Irish aid, which is to address the needs of the poorest and the most vulnerable. Ireland has been a strong advocate for maintaining a poverty focused definition of ODA. It is also important to recognise the work of our ambassadors and the embassy staff in the 11 African countries that have a role in the African Development Bank. Countries in Africa trust Ireland. That comes from the fact that our aid is poverty focused and driven by certain targets. The respect and trust are particularly due to the fact that our aid is untied. We have a 100% record in untied aid which means we have not looked for anything in return, until now anyway.

A very strong recommendation from the committee was on the need to improve policy coherence. We have the experience and the examples of policy incoherence. We are giving the aid but the incoherence comes with certain tax issues. It also comes in respect of climate change and when it comes to the arms trade. We are giving the aid with one hand while taking it back with the other because of what we are not doing in respect of climate change and tax practises and in failing to stand up at EU and UN level to those countries that are making billions of euro from the arms trade. Our committee strongly recommended a cross-government plan of action as recommended by the OECD, as well as establishing a cross-departmental body to ensure better co-ordination and coherence of development policy across government and in line with the strategic development goals, SDGs. We have been following a coherent policy to date when it comes to the aid-for-trade debate and agenda because of our aid being 100% untied. Because of that, my experience is that African countries do want to trade with Ireland because they trust us that the business will be ethical and fair. While we have the fair trade brand, it needs to be more than just a brand name.

Where does Ireland's membership of the African Development Bank fit in with our existing reputation and the relationships we have had with countries in Africa to date? African countries need to be able to develop their own resources, some of which are considerable. Those resources have to be for the benefit of the people. Some African countries are seeing strong economic growth and are moving into the range of middle-income countries but it is as if they make progress in one direction only for it to be impeded by other factors elsewhere. The ironic reality is that we have strong economic growth alongside extreme poverty. While the mantra for the sustainable development goals is to leave no one behind, millions are being left behind for various reasons, perhaps because of where they live, or because they are female or have a disability; it could be their ethnicity or their gender. Even where the success of the millennium development goals is acknowledged with statistics showing a significant increase in primary school enrolment, for example, such goals can still leave an awful lot to be desired because we are not talking about quality education with the necessary resources and suitably qualified teachers. While there have been positive results in child mortality rates and nutrition, for example the Scaling Up Nutrition programmes, what are these children surviving for if they are to remain in dire poverty, hunger, conflict and displacement? That is why there is a need for policy coherence across all of these areas including economics and banking.

Irish exports to Africa have been increasing in recent years. In 2017, the total value of exports to Africa was €1.42 billion.

However, we import less than half that amount resulting in an imbalance there. When it comes to the EU trade agreements there is also a danger of imbalance with these agreements being more to the benefit of the European country. In the context of Brexit I believe we will see more examples of trade being more for the benefit of the non-African countries. I again give a very simple example relating to chickens. There was a lucrative European trade in frozen chicken parts to west Africa and yet west Africa had thriving small businesses in live chickens. This is where we are seeing that imbalance with the local businesses losing out.

The Library and Research Service has outlined the mission strategy and goals. They refer to inclusive growth and helping Africa gradually transition to green growth. The areas for annual financing needs are as follows: light up and power Africa; feed Africa; industrialise Africa; integrate Africa; and improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. However, the other table dealing with the progress in these is abysmal, as is clear to anyone who visits those countries. If those are the needs, we need more regular progress reports on how those needs are being met. For example, 8.3 million Africans have improved access to water and sanitation. While that is very welcome, it is a very low number. At the same time Africa is experiencing population growth, part of the reason being lack of access to reproductive and sexual health measures.

The business and human rights report eventually came out after a number of years. It is languishing somewhere still waiting to go to the committee and still awaiting implementation. If we are planning to become a member of the African Development Bank, surely the whole area of rights needs to come into that. Some of those on the list of subscribers leave much to be desired on human rights, which makes me wonder who is benefiting. There are also questions over the investment in certain countries in Africa. In particular, I know there are concerns over China and what its agenda is.

On the role of other banks, a recent report showed that 119 countries in the global south were critically in debt. In 87 of them the debt situations had worsened over the past four years and 13 countries had ceased payments to creditors. The IMF loan policy conditions continue to be highly controversial in key economic policy areas. What is Ireland's stance in supporting the non-payment of unjust global south debt? The economic policy conditionality of the IMF and its partnership organisation, the World Bank, has been damaging. The governance of the IMF and the World Bank needs fundamental reform to ensure fair representation of global south nations when it comes to decision making. At least the African Development Bank had 23 African countries as founding members.

I hope our membership of the African Development Bank will be of benefit and will continue the very positive relationship we have had with African countries and will not undermine or demean the relationship that has been built up over many years.

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