Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I genuinely thank Deputy Smith for raising an extremely important issue. As we see, the way in which the world conducts itself and the rules it depends on can be changed and challenged. We should redouble our efforts to ensure those who have the very least do not pay the most, which is a risk due to the decision that regrettably has been made with regard to USAID.

Deputy Smith asked what we are doing about it. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, will be at the United Nations next week as part of her St. Patrick's Day bilateral engagement. We will engage with the United Nations on this issue to see what support we can offer. We have many bills coming in but I assure the Deputy we will do our best on this issue. Second, regarding the two programmes we jointly fund with USAID in Zambia and Malawi, and I have been in Malawi itself and know how much it needs this support, we are looking at what options or decisions we can take to support those projects.

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