Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

With the agreement of the House, I will share my time with Senator Quinn. I apologise, first of all, for my colleague, Senator Bradford who cannot be in the House this evening. He has asked me to speak in support of the motion instead of him. The motion before the House is simple and effective. It is shameful that the Taoiseach made a commitment and then blatantly broke it. The world is a small place, even though we may take a selfish attitude and argue that we are all right here in Ireland, while forgetting about everyone else. We saw the effects of the tsunami on 26 December. Although it happened thousands of miles away, it had an enormous impact on Irish people living abroad. It gave many Irish people at home anxious nights worrying about loved ones, and unfortunately some lost their lives. Ultimately Ireland was lucky in having so few fatalities in comparison to other countries.

However, the onus is on us to play our role in ensuring the world is a safer and better place. It is vital that we allocate money in line with the commitment made by the Taoiseach on overseas development. The public's response as regards the tsunami appeal was tremendous. That reflects the attitude of the general public and it is vital the Government matches that. It is also vital it ensures that the money given is spent correctly. I was coming back from Clare recently when I heard the Minister of State on the radio with Mr. Sean O'Rourke. I was not too sure where the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, was going in the interview because he appeared to be indicating there was a difficulty with some of the aid agencies. If there is a difficulty, then he should clarify that immediately because uncertainty of this nature does not do the aid agencies any good. As far as I am aware, all of the aid agencies are doing great work in very difficult circumstances. I do not believe it is helpful when the Minister of State with responsibility for a portfolio makes comments that might be misconstrued. Perhaps this could be a useful opportunity for the Minister of State to clarify his remarks. Irish people are generous. They want to see their money being spent appropriately and believe that is happening.

I welcome another initiative the Government took recently as regards the tsunami appeal, the appointment of Mr. Chris Flood, a former constituency colleague of the Minister of State, as an envoy. That is a welcome step, which perhaps could be replicated in other areas.

Fine Gael supports the Labour Party motion. It is regrettable that the Government is tabling an amendment. I suppose it is playing with words, really. The bottom line is that a commitment was given and it is up to the Government to deliver on it. We cannot allow a situation to develop whereby the Government is all over the place. We witnessed the difficulty the Taoiseach landed himself in recently over the killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe. He first gave a clear commitment, then backed down on it and now he is back on record again. Hopefully, he will stick with his resolve this time.

Tonight's motion basically calls on the Taoiseach to honour his commitment. The Minister of State has a difficult time ahead in the next few years because Ireland will be expected to do more and more work in the overseas area. In a way we are moving on from the traditional Ireland of the past, when the religious orders went abroad, founded monasteries and spread Christianity around the world. We have moved on from that and now we are spreading humanity and putting in basic services. I was part of a delegation from the Oireachtas that recently went to Lesotho. I am amazed at the amount of work that Irish agencies had carried out there.

I ask the Minister to look at issues like upgrading the embassies and consulates and putting in proper services for the people involved in the everyday dispersal of these funds.