Mary Henry (Independent)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann recognises the value of Ireland's aid to developing countries, monetary and otherwise, and calls on the Minister for Finance to maintain our commitment to it.

I welcome the Minister of State. I hope he will not consider me to be repetitive because he was present when I last raised this issue in the House on 6 February 2000. The importance of overseas development aid is a subject dear to my heart and also, I am sure, to his.

This country does much good work in this area. On the last occasion I raised the issue in the House I asked the Government to achieve the United Nations target for overseas development aid of 0.7% of GNP. We have now reached 0.4% of GNP, which is well up the scale of givers. A large number of richer countries have yet to achieve that level. I hope this debate will encourage the Minister of State when he seeks increases in aid.

When the House last debated this issue I had just returned from a visit to Uganda and Zambia, organised by the International Planned Parenthood Federation. I thanked the organisation for sending me because it was a great help to see things at first hand. The Minister has visited both countries since then and I have had the good fortune to be sponsored by that organisation to visit Ethiopia, another country to which we give special bilateral aid.

I am always impressed by the practical value of the involvement of Ireland Aid, both in the bilateral projects and the United Nations agencies it supports, including UNFPA, UNAIDS and UNICEF. The latter is supported at a multilateral level. The value for money they achieve is impressive, as is the reception they receive from local people and the way they deal with them. I am also pleased at their greater co-operation with other countries who give bilateral aid, for example, with Norway in Ethiopia, and with the various NGOs who are trying to establish systems on the ground.