Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if, in view of the fact that Ireland has received praise internationally for maintaining its overseas development cooperation programme despite the recession, he will take or encourage any measures to ensure that the EU’s larger member states live up to their commitments and obligations in terms of the quality, and the quantity, of overseas aid during Ireland's Presidency of the EU. [1665/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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The programme for Government contains a clear commitment to Ireland’s aid programme and to the UN target of providing 0.7% of gross national product for official development assistance, ODA. We have underscored this commitment in our budgetary allocations for ODA and we have emphasised that we are working to achieve the UN target when our economic circumstances allow it.

Last year, the Government provided €639 million for development assistance and an estimated €623 million has been allocated for 2013. After a period of budget reductions, we have essentially stabilised the aid budget, which is a very significant achievement in current economic circumstances. The aid programme is at the heart of our foreign policy and reflects the values of the Irish people. It remains focused on the fight against global poverty and hunger and on the poorest countries and communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2011, the European Union collectively provided over €53 billion in ODA, accounting for over 55% of global assistance to developing countries. The EU and its member states have called on all international donors, including new and emerging partners, to raise their level of ambition and to increase their ODA efforts to a level similar to the EU, thus contributing their fair share to the global development efforts.

EU member states are committed to making development aid more effective and to agreeing a global framework to improve the impact of development assistance on the reduction of global poverty. Ireland has been recognised internationally as a leader in making aid more effective. During our EU Presidency, we will continue to work with our EU partners to emphasise the transformative role of development co-operation and to ensure maximum impact in the delivery of assistance to developing countries. I believe we owe this to our own citizens and to those with whom we work in the developing world, especially at a time of economic challenge internationally.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Many who contribute get really upset and annoyed when they see larger states failing to live up to their responsibilities and commitments to aid and development. Ireland and other EU countries are going through extremely difficult times, with spending cuts in health and education and other areas. In the recent budget Irish Aid’s budget was cut by €16 million. It has been cut five times since 2008 and has fallen by 32%, but Irish development aid has a proven record as the best in the world in terms of value for money, overall quality and effectiveness.

Does the Minister of State agree that Ireland’s prosperity depends on global stability and international co-operation and that investing in Irish Aid is an investment in global stability, fairness and prosperity that will benefit Ireland in the short and long term? What is his response to the handful of politicians and journalists who say that Irish Aid money should be spent nearer home and that aid should be stalled or drastically cut? The Minister of State has probably heard this question raised on some radio stations and television programmes. It is a huge question and needs a response.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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The Deputy has asked several questions. I would like to indicate my appreciation for his support, and that of his party, for my Department’s development assistance programme, which has always been unstinting.

The European Union provides €53 billion, or 55% of all global development aid, so it is showing the way. Four member states have reached and exceeded the 0.7% target. Our largest neighbour, the United Kingdom, whose contribution reached 0.56% in 2011, expects to exceed 0.7% either last year or this year. It has made a tremendous commitment and effort to do that. The European Union is not being slow in dealing with this matter. It is anxious to ensure that contributions from other countries will come into the equation. We are particularly anxious to see emerging economies such as China and India get involved. We want to see global development aid and we will certainly pursue that.

Irish Aid has been reduced by slightly over 30% since 2008. This Government has pretty much stopped that reduction and stabilised the situation. Last year the reduction was from €639 million to €623 million, which, in the present circumstances, was quite an achievement.

Irish Aid is an investment, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, the area where there is the greatest poverty. The OECD has on many occasions indicated that we are at the cutting edge in the quality of the aid we provide and its effectiveness, so there is no doubt about that. It is in all of our interests to ensure there are developing economies in countries that are emerging, and we have an African strategy whereby we show integrated progress from relief to recovery, development, and economic engagement, which is very much to the benefit of the African countries and, in a broad sense, to the benefit of Irish trade and government as well.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I agree with much of what Deputy Crowe said, but we have an obligation to raise questions when things may not be as they seem to be. Concerns were raised recently about the €4 million designated for aid in Uganda that went elsewhere within the country. Given the economic constraints and the limited budget at home, whereby we all want more done with less, is the Minister of State confident that the Department’s and Irish Aid’s procedures are robust enough to ensure the same thing will not happen again?

Are we involved in a process whereby we can audit or assess Irish Aid and the delivery of its projects in other countries? I do not want to single out Uganda. Maybe there should be a spot check every now and again. I agree with Deputy Crowe’s point about how we are perceived internationally, but at home, too, the Government and the Oireachtas must be perceived as holding people to account. When €4 million goes missing, that is no small amount of money, as the Minister of State must appreciate. We must learn something from this experience.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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The situation is dire in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. There are approximately one billion people who go to bed hungry every day. There are various epidemics, particularly that of HIV-AIDS. Our legacy of hunger since the Famine is part and parcel of who and what we are and because of that we do the best we can possibly do for those who are so much less well off than we are. That is context of Irish Aid. At the same time, we have an obligation to the Irish taxpayer to ensure the money is well spent. The diversion of €4 million in Uganda is a good example of how Ireland deals with such a situation when it occurs. We pursue the matter immediately. The Tánaiste directed straight away that the director of Irish Aid proceed to Uganda, that we examine the situation and demand that the money be restored and that we check out the facilities in place. We discovered that the Auditor General there had been trained by Irish Aid assistants, and it was he who determined what funds had gone missing. The money was restored before Christmas and we have indicated quite clearly that we will be examining all the mechanisms in place to ensure that something of this nature does not happen again. That is being done. This shows that the Irish Aid mechanisms fulfil their intended purpose, and we will ensure this is the case in every country with which we deal.