Don Lydon (Fianna Fail)

This is a good motion and I welcome it. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Having read the report I now realise the work being done in this area. This is the second time he has held this brief. He did a good job the first time and I know he will do twice as good a job the second time. He has a formidable task before him.

I was amazed at the different areas where we are involved. The Taoiseach made a speech in Johannesburg about two years ago in which he reiterated our commitment to overseas development assistance. At that time he gave a commitment to the achievement by 2002 the UN target of spending 0.7% of GNP on overseas development assistance and that is to be welcomed. In a recent speech the Minister of State confirmed this commitment and outlined some of the objectives. He has a focused programme of development assistance which is world-class in quality.

The Minister said that he intends to address basic needs in the poorest countries on earth and this has in part been done. He outlined areas such as education, health, food security, clean water and sanitation. He pledged to work to achieve good governance and better administrative capacity in our partner countries in order to develop democratic institutions and to promote greater respect for human rights. He also spoke about globalisation and trade liberalisation.

Many people support globalisation, as do I to some extent. The danger is that the needs of small nations are sometimes swallowed up by the selfishness of large nations. He spoke about increasing Ireland's aid involvement and helping developing countries to increase their trade capacity. I would like to know what sort of figures the Minister of State has in mind in this respect.

The Minister also dealt with the question of HIV/AIDS. This is a major crisis and millions of people in parts of Africa are now suffering. We must address that issue. In 2001 the Taoiseach announced further funding to alleviate this crisis. As Senator Henry noted, it is a pity that the $34 million from the American budget was not used there. I am interested to hear what further plans the Minister of State has in this area.

We must address the food crisis. There are crises in Malawi, Zimbabwe and a major crisis in Ethiopia involving about 6 million people. I will listen to the Minister of State's plans with interest. I work with the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God who opened a hospital some years ago in Malawi. I believe the Minister of State may have visited the hospital when he was there. The report speaks of the work done by missionaries but they are not so much missionaries as health care providers.