Don Lydon (Fianna Fail)

It is worth reminding ourselves that, from its very modest beginnings in 1974, the Government's official development co-operation programme last year spent €475 million and we will spend upwards of €1.8 billion on development assistance between 2005 and 2007. This will place us among the world's most generous donor countries. Responsibility for foreign policy rests with the Minister for Foreign Affairs but within that Department, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, is in charge of development co-operation. He is doing a very good job. Like Senator Mooney, I abhorred his pillorying in the press at the time of the tsunami disaster, which was totally unfounded and unjustified.

The reduction of poverty in its various manifestations is and will remain the overarching objective for Development Cooperation Ireland. The problems afflicting development companies have never been greater. As a nation which has known hardship throughout its own history but has also experienced prosperity in recent times, we now make a very significant contribution which helps millions of poor people around the world to escape the daily grind of poverty and disadvantage.

DCI works in co-operation with governments in other countries and other donors, NGOs and international organisations as part of the global effort to achieve the millennium development goals to which the Minister of State referred. It is worth reminding ourselves of what these involve — the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; to achieve universal primary education; to promote gender equality and empower women; to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health; to combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases; and to ensure environmental stability and develop a global partnership for development. The millennium development goals provide the context in which the DCI priority sectors are decided. These include education, health, HIV-AIDS, agriculture and food security, water and sanitation infrastructure and roads, trades and development.

Since 1997, the Government has spent more than €2.4 billion on ODA. Between 1997 and 2007, the aid programme will have quadrupled. Despite all the talk, we are one of the world's most generous aid donors — well above the European average of 0.35%. Ireland is fifth in a list of who gives how much as a percentage of gross national income. Denmark donates 0.96%, Norway, 0.91%, the Netherlands, 0.82%, and Sweden, 0.74%, all of which are very high figures. Ireland is next with a figure of 0.41%, followed by France at 0.36%, Finland, 0.35%, Switzerland, 0.32%, United Kingdom, 0.3%, Canada, 0.28%, Germany, 0.27%, Spain, 0.25%, Japan, 0.23%, Italy, 0.2%, and so on.

These figures in themselves do not always contain a great deal of information. For example, the figure for the United States is only 0.12% of its gross national income but amounts to $20.4 billion. Sometimes one must look inside the figures to see what is happening. Our total spending last year was €475 million, some €400 million of which was spent by the Department of Foreign Affairs through the programmes funded by Development Cooperation Ireland. The remaining €75 million is disbursed to international organisations such as the World Bank and the World Food Programme through other Departments' Votes.

The Minister of State mentioned Mr. Wolfensohn's fine and deserved comments about the Irish contribution. The largest share of the money, with an expected outturn of €150 million, went to seven programme countries, which are the chief focus of Ireland's aid programme, namely, Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Ethiopia and East Timor. In 2001, we opened an office in Dili.

We also provide humanitarian assistance to Palestine, to a number of projects in eastern Europe, the former CIS states and, in addition to the longer term development programmes, we respond to emergencies, for example, in the recent past significant humanitarian aid has been delivered to Afghanistan, southern Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfur in Sudan and, more recently, on the Caribbean islands of Grenada, Haiti and the Dominican Republic following the recent hurricanes. There is no doubt that we contribute a great deal of money and work very hard. Ireland is involved in many good programmes, including recovery training and sectorial development, amounting to approximately €75 million. A major element under this heading is combating the surge in the number of HIV-AIDS infections. Ireland also assists new states. Last year, I had the honour of representing Ireland at the Asian-European parliamentary conference. At the subsequent Asian-European ministerial conference, the Taoiseach announced that Ireland planned to open an embassy in Vietnam and begin a full development programme there. Vietnam's neighbouring states, Laos and Cambodia, will also be a focus of this programme. There will be a fresh look at the possibility of more long-term co-operation with countries in west Africa. A new development office will open in several months in Sierra Leone, which will also deal with Liberia.

Increases of €190 million over the next three years in overseas development aid were announced in the 2005 budget. Between 2005 and 2007, the Government will spend a minimum of €1.8 billion on overseas aid. It has made an additional €10 million available for relief efforts in south Asia following the tsunami disaster. A welcome aspect of these increases is the restoration of multi-annual funding, with an increase of €60 million in 2005 and minimum increases of €65 million in 2006 and 2007. The real benefit of this three-year commitment is that Ireland and its partner countries can now strategically plan on a clear and growing financial base.

Our multilateral aid programme with UN aid agencies, the World Bank and the EU has deepened and expanded. Ireland has worked hard in various ways, particularly during its EU Presidency, to achieve a more effective response from the international system to the challenges of reducing global poverty and achieving the millennium development goals. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Conor Lenihan, is doing a good job in this regard. From his commitment, everything in our power will be done to reach the levels to which we are committed. The sum of €1.8 billion is large. The work we have embarked upon is centred in many new and different states. Ireland is up there with the best of them. We are the fifth largest donor in terms of percentage of gross national income. This is even more admirable when one considers larger states below that level that do much talking but little contributing. As Senator Minihan stated, we can never be complacent. Our ambition is to increase aid to a level beyond every other state. Considering how far we have come in the past ten years, we should be proud and not complain.