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

I am making the point. The Deputy had his say and I am having mine.

On the other issues the Deputy raised in respect of annexation and the Middle East peace process, I have been very vocal at UN level, at EU level and domestically about Ireland's absolute support for a two-state solution. Ireland's leadership within the EU seeks to ensure that the EU provides the necessary deterrent to a new Israeli Government to proposals to annex lands that are not Israeli lands but Palestinian lands. We will continue to advocate for that. The language in the programme for Government is clear on that and my actions and my statements, both publicly and privately, are absolutely consistent with what is stated in the programme for Government.

On the comments that two party spokespersons made about cuts to gender action, they are not a reflection of the truth. There are no cuts per se. We have increased funding in terms of the overall spend on development of assistance. Budgets are either increasing or static. There is a commitment to growth in the programme for Government. All three issues have been mainstreamed throughout the Irish aid programme, which means we build gender action, climate action and work on food systems and nutrition into everything we do in development aid. A total of 77% of Irish aid targets gender inequality. I ask Deputies, therefore, to read the aid programme for what we are doing on all budget lines rather than trying to pick one or two to give an inaccurate impression.

Climate funding has increased significantly over the past three years, while the increase in the green climate fund through the finance Vote, also in 2020, needs to be taken into account. As for debt forgiveness, Ireland, through the Department of Finance and my Department, has worked with the World Bank and the Paris club to encourage countries to facilitate either debt flexibility in respect of repayments or debt forgiveness.

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