Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I want to raise an issue that is of significant concern to me, the Green Party and many Irish people, namely, the impact of the highly politicised attack on overseas aid by the US Government. All of us in this House will be aware of the extreme and really quite extraordinary steps taken by the US Administration, in particular the almost slapstick efforts by Elon Musk to shut down wholesale entire federal agencies or strip away funding from what is deemed to be ideologically opposite to the Administration's agenda.

We saw how fabricated the whole casus belliwas when we heard Karoline Leavitt single out a programme here in Ireland, supposedly funded by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, as a "DEI musical", as if it funded actors to sing on stage about equality themes. I spoke at that event in the US embassy and, of course, it was in no way similar to what Ms Leavitt described.

Political theatrics aside, there are the most serious life and death consequences to what is happening. We in Ireland and the European Union should not be standing by impassively. The effective shutting down of USAID and the freezing of its significant aid and development budget has put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk, including the lives of many children.

To give a few examples, the freeze in humanitarian assistance in Sudan has led to the shuttering of over 1,100 communal kitchens that were set up to help those who have been left destitute by the civil war in that country. In Congo, the aid group Action Against Hunger will stop treating tens of thousands of malnourished children from May. The charity has said that will put those children in mortal danger. In Senegal, the biggest anti-malaria project has closed. It distributed bed nets and medication to tens of thousands of people. In Yemen, 220,000 displaced people will lose access to critical maternal healthcare, protection from violence, rape treatment and other lifesaving care, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

There are thousands of similar USAID programmes that have been paused indefinitely and the impact for the world's poorest communities cannot be overstated. USAID has effectively shut down and 80% of its operations are suspended indefinitely. Some €8.2 billion in funds remain frozen and are likely to remain so. Regardless of the outcome of legal challenges, even if the executive order is overturned and the exemptions for lifesaving programmes are carved out, with a Republican Congress in power for the next two years, it is fair to say that these cuts are here to stay.

The impact is being felt here, too. GOAL received €103 million annually from USAID, which was its largest donor. It has had to lay off 930 people, which is 30% of its global workforce. Concern received €53 million annually. It has had to make 400 staff redundant. Trócaire received €1.3 million each year and Self Help Africa received €300,000 per year.

We are faced with this appalling and utterly unnecessary impact. In light of that, the Irish Government must step up. We must urgently signal that we are prepared to increase our overseas development aid, ODA, budget significantly to try to offset some of the impact. We know that hundreds of thousands of lives are being put at risk. We must work closely with our EU neighbours to try to scale up an emergency fund that can have a truly global reach and ensure the impact of the US retreat from supporting the most vulnerable on our planet is lessened.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I have a reply to read on behalf of the Minister but the Deputy knows what the Minister would say. I want to talk as someone who held the job. There is only one disagreement I have with what the Deputy has said. He said that hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk. I think it is millions. I have seen these issues at first hand. I have travelled across Africa. Irish Aid and our NGOs do an incredible job. The scale, breadth and depth of what USAID was doing on the ground was one of the largest operations in the world, if not the largest. It was unmatched. The absolute devastation of USAID, and the impact it will have on the countries the Deputy so eloquently mentioned in his contribution, cannot be overestimated. It is one of the harshest cuts that the US Administration has introduced. It does not receive enough attention on a global basis because of what else is happening but it goes right to the heart of those people who will pay the price. They are the poorest children and people in the poorest countries across the world. The Irish Government is conscious of that. We are going to work with our NGOs and the UN partnerships we have.

We are not in a position, and very few countries in the world are in a position, to make up the damage that has been done by the cuts to USAID. However, I know the commitment is there, having worked in the Department and seen that commitment in the staff and people within the Department, on the Irish Aid side, and in the incredible work being done by our NGOs. As the Deputy rightly mentioned, many people give tirelessly of their time, lives and careers to work in this space that includes some great agencies, including Concern and GOAL, etc. To see those jobs being lost and wiped out is devastating. I hope that collectively, on a European and international level, through UN involvement, and in working to see what we can do within our own Government commitments, we can, in whatever way possible, work with the agencies to have an impact on what is happening. As I said, I do not think any country would ever be able to compensate for the devastating impact of what has happened to USAID.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State. I am pleased he was able to bring his own experience within the Department and his passion for this issue to his answer. Around the world, people are deeply disturbed by the callous actions of the US Administration in cutting support for the most vulnerable. Bill Gates today accused Elon Musk of killing the world's poorest children by leading this set of actions.

There are knock-on consequences. We see others emboldened by this. We have seen the disappointing decision of the UK Labour Party Government to retreat on its own aid commitments.

We know it is not a matter of filling in the money that has been lost. Ireland has a structured ODA system. We support particular countries and types of projects. I am not proposing we interfere with that in any way. However, the scale of the impact of the cuts mandated on USAID is so severe that we cannot just wait until next year's budgetary allocation. It is not that Ireland can make up that difference of $8 billion. We cannot do that. However, we can, working with the European Union, look to start a fund to try to bridge some of that gap. We need to look at those projects that are most essential. We must look at the diseases that are going to spiral out of control because the teams that are currently funded by USAID have had to withdraw. I urge the Minister of State to work with the European Union and like-minded countries to bring together the necessary funding so we can go some way towards bridging the gap. Let us lead by example by putting additional money on the table and do what we can to protect the most vulnerable on our planet.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. He makes the valid point that while what has happened with USAID is the most impactful, we have also seen impacts in the range of countries that have reduced their aid budgets, including the UK. At the heart of what we do has always been the process of reaching the furthest behind first. We target our ODA on that basis. The Government is committed to that approach and I reaffirm that it remains at the heart of our approach. There have been annual increases to our ODA. We are working towards a target of achieving 0.7% of gross national income. That commitment remaining at the heart of where we are and our approach to our development aid programme is welcome and important. I know that involves an ongoing determination on our part to ensure we maximise our relationships with our European and international partners and our NGOs to ensure we can get the best benefit from spending our money. We commit to increasing our support for our own programme and working towards that 0.7% target.