Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 5: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason a reference is not included in the information pack and quick guide to the work of Development Co-operation Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18783/05]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government remains strongly committed to achieving the UN target of 0.7% of GNP for expenditure on official development assistance. The issues of how best to meet the target and in what timeframe is under ongoing review. Ireland and the other EU member states agreed last week to reach an interim target of 0.51% by 2010 and to reach the 0.7% target by 2015. I have stated publicly that I hope Ireland will be ahead of the terms of the new EU commitment, by reaching the UN target of 0.7% before 2015.

The recently produced information pack on Development Co-operation Ireland was designed to give an overview of the work of Ireland's official development programme. The pack, which shows how the money of Irish taxpayers is being spent in some of the world's poorest countries, is a general information guide that introduces people to the work of Development Co-operation Ireland. It has been circulated at a number of recent public meetings, which were convened in various parts of the country as part of the preparation of the White Paper on development co-operation policy. I intend to ensure that the pack is updated at regular intervals as part of the Government's ongoing efforts to keep the public informed about what it is doing in this important area.

It has been clear at the seven public meetings which have been held throughout the country that there is a strong public appetite for more information about the work of Development Co-operation Ireland. The information pack and a variety of other public information initiatives are designed to bridge the knowledge gap and increase understanding about the Government's development assistance work. When decisions have been taken about how best to meet the target and in what timeframe, such matters will be reflected in subsequent editions of the information pack.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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I would like to elaborate explicitly on my initial question. The information pack produced as an introduction to the work of Development Co-operation Ireland is attractive and colourful. Neither the substantial pack nor the handy guide that accompanies it contains a reference to a target of allocating 0.7% of GNP or GNI by any given year. The pack refers to the UN target of 0.15% of aid being allocated to the poorest nations of the world, however. Ireland has achieved that target by giving most of its aid to sub-Saharan Africa. I accept that the poorest nations in that region deserve our attention.

I will repeat the explicit question I originally asked. Why has the Department of Foreign Affairs produced an information pack about the work of Development Co-operation Ireland without referring to the most solemn commitment on overseas development aid that has ever been offered to the international community? The commitment was given by the Taoiseach at the UN in September 2000 and was repeated in the manifestos of each of the Government parties at the last general election. The Taoiseach told me last week that the social partners have signed up to the commitment. Why was it not mentioned in the information pack? Why has an attempt been made in the pack to draw attention to the 0.15% commitment? It seems to be a type of subterfuge.

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Deputy's question. There is no element of subterfuge in the information pack. I indicated in an up-front and honest manner, within a month of being appointed as Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, that the Government could not achieve its target of spending 0.7% of GDP on overseas development aid by 2007.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Yes.

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I did not consider it necessary to mention the target in the information booklet because I am involved in the final stages of a complex set of discussions with the Minister for Finance and others. The discussions, which relate to the determining of a new realistic and achievable timeframe within which the 0.7% target can be met, should be finished within the next month. As I said in response to questions from other Deputies, I hope Ireland can achieve the 0.7% target before 2015, which is the EU's deadline for the achievement of the target.

The 0.15% target was mentioned in the information pack because it is very interesting. While one often hears people talking about the 0.7% target, one rarely encounters a reference to the 0.15% target. Those who are knowledgeable about development matters believe that the 0.15% target is much more important in substantive terms. That Ireland has achieved the 0.15% target proves that its aid programme is very effective. Ireland received a great deal of praise in a peer group review that was conducted by the OECD in 2003.

Ireland's aid programme is well regarded internationally because half of its expenditure in the developing world is spent on the least developed countries on earth, which are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Some non-governmental agencies consider Ireland's overseas aid programme to be the best in the world. The 0.15% target was mentioned in the information booklet because Ireland is one of just six countries to have exceeded it. It is quite an important figure because it is an indicator of success in poverty reduction, which has been at the centre of Deputy Michael Higgins's political thinking throughout his career. I am rather bemused and quizzical because the Deputy has questioned the validity of the reference to the 0.15% target. As a lifelong socialist, the Deputy has dedicated himself to the cause of reducing poverty, domestically and internationally.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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I do not query the reference in the information pack to the achievement of the 0.15% target. It is extraordinary, however, that the booklet does not contain a simple sentence saying that the Government will announce shortly the year in which it proposes to achieve the UN target of 0.7%.

I am afraid that the international concentration on the poorest countries in the world, which are in sub-Saharan Africa, is not working in the manner suggested by the Minister of State. Some 227 million people in the region were living on $1 each per day in 1990, but that had increased to 313 million people by 2001. The average income of a person in the 33 countries of sub-Saharan Africa is $270 per year, or 71 cent per day. Ireland could have made a great impact on the lives of such people by spending all the money needed to achieve the 0.7% target in sub-Saharan Africa. We could have spent such money on the HIV-AIDS world millennium development goal project, for example.

It has been suggested at some of the meetings throughout the country that Ireland might not have been able to spend 0.7% of GNP if the Government had achieved that target. That suggestion does not contain an ounce of sense, however. If one is producing a booklet outlining the work of Development Co-operation Ireland in the knowledge that the 0.7% target will not be met by 2007, one should have the honour to state in the booklet that the matter is under discussion and the new target year will be announced shortly.

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Deputy's clarification. That Ireland's target date for the achievement of the 0.7% goal is under discussion has been mentioned at every meeting that has been held as part of the White Paper consultation process. The re-evaluation of the 0.7% target was not mentioned in the information booklet, but it will be mentioned in the next booklet, which will be produced in January 2006. A new strategy for the achievement of the 0.7% target, including a new timeframe, will be in place by then. I will be delighted to give Deputy Michael D, Higgins a copy of the next booklet when it has been completed. It is important to reflect on the Deputy's comments about the decline in the allocation of overseas aid to sub-Saharan Africa by other countries over the past ten or 20 years.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Yes.

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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It is fantastic for me, as Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, to remind the House that Ireland has bucked that trend. The Irish aid programme has been going in the opposite direction.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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I accept that.

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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It has increased threefold since 1997. Ireland has led the way in development assistance, in many ways, over recent years. There has been a decline in the level of EU funding to sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest part of the world, in the past 20 years. The exact opposite has been the case in respect of the Irish programme, which is something we can take pride in on a cross-party basis. Ministers of State from the Labour Party, the Progressive Democrats and other parties have developed the Irish aid programme, which is the best development programme in the world, according to the OECD peer review group. That finding has been supported by independent non-governmental organisations over the past two weeks.