Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil is conscious that the recent budget was framed in the context of Brexit, as the Tánaiste has said. We welcomed that, for 2020, the Government has allocated almost €838 million for official development assistance, an increase of just under €21 million on the 2019 budget allocation. While an upward trend in ODA in recent years is a move in the right direction, I support calls from organisations such as Trócaire and Dóchas for the Government to develop a strategy in order to ensure that the target is reached in full and on time.

The reality is that Ireland has fallen considerably behind in reaching the ODA:GNI target. Based on current estimates, the current level of allocation of ODA amounts to approximately to 0.31% of GNI. This is considerably behind a high of 0.59% reached in 2008 when Fianna Fáil was in government. While we acknowledge increases in ODA since 2014, it is clear that sustained financial resources will be required if we are to reach the target by 2030.

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