Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to ensure sustained annual increases in Ireland's official development assistance to progress towards the UN target of 0.7% of gross national income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38250/25]

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has a proud history when it comes to development aid. We are still falling short of the UN target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on overseas aid. The most recent figures show we are at just 0.57%. When domestic supports such as Ukrainian refugee assistance are excluded, the figure drops to 0.41%. How does the Government plan to progress towards the 0.7% target?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. Let us be honest: overseas development aid and assistance are coming under attack in many parts of the world. I am very proud that we live in a country where, on a cross-party basis, even during the deepest financial crisis, there has been consistent support for Ireland to continue to support those less fortunate in some of the most deprived and developing parts of the world. The Government remains committed to the targets agreed at the UN to provide 0.7% of gross national income in official development assistance. That commitment was reaffirmed in 2019 in A Better World, Ireland's international development policy. It is also been reaffirmed in our programme for Government.

In recent years, the Government has consistently increased the allocation for the Irish Aid programme managed under Vote 27 of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This year, it stands at €810.3 million, the highest ever in the 51-year history of the developing programme. Total overseas development assistance and aid for 2024 are currently being finalised, but preliminary figures released by the OECD place Ireland's own overseas develop tied at over €2.2 billion, representing 0.57% of GNP. This includes eligible first-year supports for refugees in Ireland from Ukraine, as the Deputy mentioned.

Excluding these costs, the 2024 overseas development aid percentage was 0.41%, an increase from 0.38% in 2023. It is important to note that the refugee costs eligible for reporting as overseas development aid are finalised retrospectively and that no such funding has been sourced from the allocation for the Irish Aid programme.

Thus it does not come from that programme. This will remain the case in 2025. Total ODA, including contributions to international development from other Departments and Ireland's share of the EU development co-operation budget was in the region of €430 million in 2024.

Obviously individual decisions on how we get there are a matter for the budget, but I am heartened by the fact the programme for Government between the two parties and Independents is clear on that 0.7% commitment.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge there is a commitment in the programme for Government and the Tánaiste's commitment to international development aid. The difficulty, as he has outlined, is the global aid landscape has completely changed. The US has made massive cuts to USAID. Over $60 billion has been slashed. UK development aid is down by £6 billion. That has a huge knock-on impact on the likes of the Irish NGOs. Goal, Concern and Trócaire, which is based in my home town of Maynooth, have lost vital funding and have had to freeze recruitment and suspend some operations in countries such as Syria and Sudan. Earlier we heard of the devastating impacts in Sudan and how we as a collective need to speak more openly about Sudan. These programmes run by Irish NGOs are vital in ensuring there are supports for people in the hardest-hit areas of the world.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I fully agree with the Deputy. We have allocated about €7.7 million so far this year to Sudan. We are committing this morning to allocating at least €14 million during the total year, which would bring us in line with what we did last year, because the humanitarian situation there is horrific. The year 2025 will be the fifth consecutive year in which the Government allocation to the Irish Aid programme managed by my Department will have increased and we will publish in September the annual report on our official development assistance to provide a detailed breakdown of the distribution of that aid.

The Deputy is right the very large cuts from other donors are having a real impact. The OECD projects a fall of between 9% and 17% in global ODA in 2025 at a time when the world probably requires it more than ever. This comes on top of a 9% drop in 2024 which marked the first global decline in six years. This projected decline is driven by announced cuts by major providers. France, Germany, the UK and the US all cut their ODA last year for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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There is a little bit of light in a dark place from the commitment by the State and the Tánaiste's Department to increase the funding, especially to Sudan. That is an important message people need to hear. I acknowledge as well the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, made the comment in Sierra Leone earlier in the year that Ireland has a responsibility to show real leadership in how development spending directly impacts people living in poverty. It goes throughout Government and throughout the Tánaiste's Department. As I said, I welcome the increase in funding and the commitment to increase funding, especially to Sudan and the hardest-hit areas globally.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for highlighting this. We are monitoring very closely the impact on our work as a country and the impact on NGOs like the ones the Deputy mentioned as a result of the ODA cuts from other countries. We are continuing to assess the immediate and long-term effects with our partners. We are in regular contact with governments in developing countries, with the UN and other multilateral agencies, with our Irish development NGOs and with our international NGOs. We are going to continue this approach and we are trying to provide support to them that is predictable and flexible. We are trying to help those partners adapt as well as possible to what is a rapidly changing context. For example, we are front-loading the payment of our 2025 core funding for trusted UN agencies at their request. However, I must be honest that international aid architecture is facing a very uncertain time. We remain firm in our ODA commitments. It is clearly not feasible for us to fill the major funding gaps but we will continue to lead as we can and to be flexible in the engagement with our partners.