Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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12. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of the fact that 2015 will see three high level international meetings on critical global challenges, with a July conference in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on financing for development, if Ireland will support a global intergovernmental body on tax matters; and if the Government will support the calls for a commitment by countries to meet the 0.7% of gross domestic product commitment deadline for 2020. [19378/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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This year, we are working for global agreement in three major international conferences on sustainable development. The conferences are interlinked. They are on financing for development, in Addis Ababa in July, on a new framework for global development at the United Nations in New York in September and on a new climate change agreement in Paris in December. The aim is to deliver a new and transformative sustainable development agenda, with sustainable development goals up to 2030.

The Addis Ababa conference, which will be attended by the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, will seek to unlock the range of financing sources required to implement the new universal goals. These include domestic resource mobilisation, private sector contributions and official development assistance, ODA, which remains critical for the poorest countries. The Government remains fully committed to reaching the 0.7% target and to making further progress towards it as our economy continues to recover. Ireland is a world leader in the proportion of our aid which goes to least developed countries and we strongly support the UN target of providing between 0.15% and 0.2% of GNI for the least developed countries. Currently, we exceed that target.

Issues of taxation will be central to the financing of sustainable development. We believe the most effective way to deal with global tax issues is through the OECD. In an effort to ensure the involvement of the developing world in these processes, the Minister for Finance, at the OECD, has previously called for all countries to undertake spill-over analyses of the impact of their taxation regimes on the developing world, similar to the analysis already commissioned by the Department of Finance in respect of Ireland.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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The tax issue is vital to economic justice. We have seen already the harm that has been done by tax and financial systems which facilitated tax dodging, illicit financial flows and the illegal movement of money or capital from one country to another. There is a frightening statistic that in one year there was an estimated loss of $634 billion for developing countries, and another that $5.3 trillion of effective subsidies went to fossil fuel industries. Ireland sits on quite a number of multinational and international fora and, as we have such a good reputation and as our aid is second to none, we can also be a voice when it comes to economic justice. There is a need for us to be strong on the five main areas of trade, debt, tax, gender and climate.

While I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, it is disappointing that the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, is not going to Addis Ababa. My understanding is that very high level delegations are coming from many of the African countries. There is a need for Ireland to be much stronger on these issues. Is Ireland committed to the ODA target by 2020?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I wish to assure the Deputy and the House that the Government will be represented by a Minister at the conference in Addis Ababa. Ireland has a proud record of attendance at these conferences and of influencing the outcomes of many international fora. The Deputy will be aware that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has the lead on tax issues. My Department works closely with the Department of Finance on the role of taxation in development. Ireland takes the position that the most effective way to deal with global tax issues is through the OECD. It is, therefore, important that the United Nations works on taxation and that it takes into account the ongoing work at the OECD. It is necessary for us to adopt an approach that avoids conflict between the various organisations' activities. I would be concerned about having a number of approaches rather than one approach. It is in the best interests of our endeavours to ensure that we work and deal with global tax issues through the OECD.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Lack of action and lack of courage on issues of economic justice are very strong contributing factors for the people who are migrating in vast numbers and at great risk from various African countries.

I wonder about the role of officialdom versus the role of Government intentions. When our Ministers return from these three conferences, my wish is they will tell us they had the courage, passion and commitment to speak out in a strong way on issues of tax justice and they did not take a cautious or conservative approach. The Minister spoke about civil society in his previous reply to me. There has been a joint civil society statement on the second draft of the Addis Ababa outcome document. Has the Minister taken this and the various issues on board, because civil society has concerns? In many cases they are the people working on the ground with immediate experience of the effect of some of these policies which are made far away from these countries.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The parameters of a useful agreement at Addis Ababa would need to be broad if they are to support the new sustainable development goals, which we hope will be adopted in New York in September. These goals are universal in nature and will be implemented by all countries. It is essential, therefore, that all contribute to a successful outcome to the finance and development conference in Addis Ababa.

I will make a brief reference to the Government's commitment to Ireland's overseas aid programme which is at the heart of our foreign policy. It is articulated in the recently published document, The Global Island: Ireland's Foreign Policy for a Changing World. Our policy on international development restates the programme for Government commitment to achieving the United Nation's target of providing 0.7% of GNP for overseas development aid once our economic circumstances permit. Since 2011, the Government has allocated more than €3 billion to overseas development aid. In 2011, some €657 million was allocated, and between 2012 and 2013 the level of contribution increased from €629 million to €637 million. The final outturn for 2014 shows Ireland contributed slightly in excess of €610 million to overseas aid. For 2015, we have again allocated a sum in excess of €600 million to overseas development aid. We will continue to endeavour to increase this sum until we reach the committed target.