Mary Henry (Independent)

The Minister of State certainly has a supporter in me, as he knows. My admiration for the incredible work of the staff of Development Cooperation Ireland is no secret. The Minister of State and DCI staff probably regret more than any of us the fact that more progress is not being made towards the 0.7% of GNP target. That is what everyone wants. We might be wiser to get the Taoiseach to lower his sights somewhat and concede that if we are not going to be on target, we could at least make it 0.5% or 0.6% or something like that. That could be a comfort to us all.