Results 441-460 of 881 for speaker:Peter Power
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: The Government's aid programme, Irish Aid, provides assistance to over ninety developing countries. Nine have been designated as Programme Countries, with a commitment to long term strategic assistance. These are Tanzania, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Vietnam and Timor Leste. In 2009, the total programme budget for these countries will amount to almost â¬200...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18, 20, 24, 28, 46, 57 and 62 together. The total Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for 2009 will be â¬696 million. â¬571 million will be administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs, through Irish Aid, with the balance of â¬125 million being contributions to development co-operation by other Government Departments and through Ireland's...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: I was delighted to have the opportunity to attend the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008, where I was able to contribute to the EU Ministerial discussions on the Accra Agenda for Action. The High Level Forum and the Accra Agenda for Action have been effective in drawing renewed attention to the importance of improving aid delivery and giving value for money,...
- Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: Ireland has taken a consistently strong position within the EU on the complex range of issues involved in the negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements with the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. The negotiations are carried out by the European Commission, on behalf of the EU. Ireland has been one of a group of Member States which has ensured that the negotiations...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 67 together. I welcome this opportunity to clear up any misconceptions about emergency funding through the Government's official overseas development programme, Irish Aid. Emergency response by Irish Aid is provided by way of the Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Fund (EHAF). The revised budgetary figure for EHAF is â¬56 million for 2009. This is a...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: The Report of the Government's Hunger Task Force (HTF), which was published in September 2008, recommended that Ireland can make a real contribution to tackling the root causes of hunger by increasing the productivity of smallholder farmers in Africa, by implementing programmes on maternal and infant under-nutrition and by ensuring that there is committed political action at national and...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 43 together. The overarching goal of the Government's aid programme, administered by Irish Aid, is the reduction of global poverty and hunger. Our partnership with development Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and missionaries represents a very important element of this effort, reflecting the broad support among the Irish people for the development...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: The Government aid programme, administered by Irish Aid, is supporting and is supported by over 1,300 long term development workers, volunteers and missionaries in the developing world. Their work is an important element in the overall Irish contribution to the reduction and eventual eradication of global poverty and hunger. The Government has directly supported the work of volunteers in...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: Uganda is one of the nine Programme Countries for the Government's aid programme, where we have a commitment to long term strategic assistance. The programme of support for Uganda, administered by Irish Aid, focuses on areas which will have the greatest impact on the poorest and most vulnerable people and communities. Karamoja, in Northern Uganda, is the least socially and economically...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: Since August 2008, conflict between militants and government troops in parts of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has led to over half a million people being displaced. Over the last two weeks, an additional 1.1 million people have been displaced from a number of districts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) as a result of increased fighting between the Pakistan...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: I very much regret the fact that the Government were obliged, in response to budgetary pressures, to make short term reductions in the development co-operation budget. This adjustment to the aid budget has necessitated some modification in planned expenditure across the programme consistent with the central priority of our aid programme â the reduction of global poverty and hunger in the...
- Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and its Kyoto Protocol, binding targets have been set for the developed countries, but not for developing countries. The targets relate to reductions in the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted by developed countries. They are referred to as mitigation targets. No mitigation targets have been set for developing...
- Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: Under the Government's decentralisation programme announced in 2003, 125 posts attached to the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs were to decentralise to Limerick. The Division is the Headquarters of Irish Aid. Following sanction of an additional 20 posts by the Department of Finance in 2005, the total number of posts attached to Irish Aid Headquarters...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: The Government's 2006 White Paper on Irish Aid included the commitment to establish an Inter-Departmental Committee on Development, to be chaired at Ministerial level. The Committee was launched in April 2007 with the objective of strengthening coherence in the Government's approach to development and making best use of the expertise and skills available across the public service. To date,...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: As Minister of State with responsibility for our overseas aid budget, I am deeply conscious of the need to ensure value for money and impact on the ground in terms of poverty reduction. I can assure you that the aid programme has in place a comprehensive programme of appraisal, planning, audit, and evaluation to ensure that funds are spent effectively and benefit the most vulnerable and...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: The global crisis is beginning to adversely affect developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa growth in 2009 is currently projected to fall to 1.7%. This follows years of solid growth. There is a real risk that cuts in public expenditure will reduce the provision of basic services in health, education and agriculture and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) could be...
- Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 145 together. The Government's aid programme, administered by Irish Aid, is recognised internationally for its lead role in ensuring the effectiveness of development aid. The recently published report of the peer review of the aid programme, which was carried out by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD, described Irish Aid as "a strong,...
- Diplomatic Representation. (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: Michael D. for ambassador.
- Overseas Development Aid. (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: Over the past decade Ireland's spending on Official Development Aid, ODA, has witnessed extraordinary growth. The figures speak for themselves. In 2000 our total contribution to ODA was â¬250 million - by 2008 this had grown to â¬918 million. At the start of the decade we contributed 0.3% of our GNP to ODA - last year we contributed 0.58%. By any measure this is an extraordinary success...
- Overseas Development Aid. (28 May 2009)
Peter Power: We share the concern expressed in the OECD report to the effect that these targets are more difficult to make in the current environment. We want to meet these targets and it is our ambition to do so. We have a goal towards which we are working. The question that arises relates to the precise mechanism to be used and the path to be followed in order that we might meet our aid commitments....