John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I take the opportunity to congratulate the Minister on his reappointment as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and his new role with responsibility for defence. As Sinn Féin's spokesperson for foreign affairs and defence I look forward to rigorous and robust exchanges of views.

I begin with Brexit. Its impact will be felt not only in this State but across the island of Ireland. There is a great onus on the Government to protect the Irish protocol. The protection of the Good Friday Agreement must take priority over all issues relating to Brexit. We must ensure that the EU negotiators continue to protect Ireland's interests. The Minister has a key role in ensuring this. I assure him I will shadow his progress and performance every step of the way.

When we discuss overseas aid and its importance and relevance, it is important we note that Irish citizens have given to a level that we would not have previously thought possible. As the death toll from Covid-19 creeps agonisingly towards 2,000 people, we must be cognisant that our first defence against a future and perhaps more devastating pandemic is overseas aid.

As a nation which has positioned itself at the centre of the international community through our success at the UN, we must act strategically. Now is the time to build the levees, not when the flood comes. That means we must keep our commitments to achieve a target of 0.7% of GDP. The strategic use of overseas funding to help developing nations help themselves also helps us. Covid-19 has exposed vulnerabilities as well as interdependencies across international boundaries. Perhaps this is a good time to pay tribute to the international brigade of Cuban doctors and medical staff who selflessly went to Europe and further afield to assist the First and Third Worlds in the fight against this pandemic. This interconnectedness has also illuminated the vulnerabilities of the poorest members of our global community.

The World Food Programme recently published a report that states we face the threat of multiple famines as a consequence of Covid-19. A new report from Oxfam warns that more people could die every day from hunger related to the coronavirus rather than the virus itself. It also warns that by the end of the year, up to 12,000 people daily could die of hunger as a result of Covid-19. It noted that 121 million people might be pushed to the brink of starvation as a result of the social and economic fallout from the pandemic through mass unemployment, disruption to food production and supplies, and declining aid.

I am proud of the egalitarian instincts of the Irish people polled as part of an EU survey, with 92% of respondents agreeing that Ireland had a responsibility to help those in disadvantaged countries. The Minister must become a voice on the international stage that urges for cancellation or restructuring of debt for developing countries. Sixty countries spend more on servicing debts than on healthcare.

The Department has developed a series of metrics to promote gender references under specific categories of statements, an admirable target on which it should be commended. However, how many references to gender will be apologies? It could be said that mea culpa is the battle cry of this Government, based on its performance to date. From the Minister's remarks, we are being asked to support an 80% reduction in the number of organisations funded to promote the participation of women in post-conflict reconciliation. Further funding cuts of 43% under the rubric of human rights, gender equality and protection are also proposed. Where there is conflict, women must be part of the solution. Despite the effects of conflict on women, their participation in the peace building agenda has been resisted by both local male elites and, more importantly, international actors. That cannot be allowed stand.

I must ask the Minister about the response of his Government colleagues in the Green Party on learning of his proposed cut of 11% to climate change and environment under the category of resilience and economic inclusion. Perhaps, the Green Party's focus on tormenting rural Ireland is enough to occupy its members at the moment. In that category, there are proposed cuts of 26% under the heading "nutrition". I remind the Minister that malnutrition is the leading cause of death across the globe and has been described as the leading driver of disabilities. Its effects can be felt across generations, particularly in the areas of physical and cognitive development. One in nine people around the world is hungry or undernourished. A quarter of all children in the world under the age of five years suffer from stunted growth as a consequence of the effects of malnutrition. The failure to tackle malnutrition acts as a brake on the development of individuals, communities and economies around the world. Where there is evidence of malnutrition, the probability of outbreaks of armed violence increases considerably. A sustained emphasis on tackling nutrition has a multiplier effect across both the health and economy of a region. Nutrition is the missing link for sustainable growth. It is integral to the development of sustainable development goals.

I want to address Ireland’s welcome success in securing a seat on the UN Security Council and how the Government will approach this role. It is not enough for the Minister to present his approach to the Security Council as one akin to a strategy premised on pester-power. He should look at how much he annoyed the electorate and yet he and his party are here again. In my experience pester-power works much better for eight-year-olds than for governments. We must take advantage of our position on the UN Security Council as a non-aligned nation that has a celebrated history of neutrality. We must become the voice of truth to power, a voice for the dispossessed, the disadvantaged, the homeless and above all for those who have no voice of their own.

What people could one describe as being more voiceless, more disadvantaged, more dispossessed, and if the Israeli Government is allowed to give full vent to its colonial impulses, more utterly and completely homeless than the Palestinian people? The Minister may possess aspirations to be the stone in the shoe of the powerful but he has certainly proven to be a boulder in the pathway of attempts by this House to introduce the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill, at least according to his own Government colleague, Deputy Neasa Hourigan.

Given that the Israeli Government under Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened the annexation of 30% of the West Bank, there is even more impetus on this Government to introduce the occupied territories Bill and to stand with the growing number of European states which are working to halt Israeli aggression towards Palestinians.

An important matter has arisen which requires clarification from the Minister. There is speculation circulating in the media that the Minister may have deliberately misled this House over the consequences of the implementation of the occupied territories Bill. It is being alleged that his claim that the occupied territories Bill was at odds with EU law and could potentially expose Ireland to fines of tens of millions of euro-----

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