Don Lydon (Fianna Fail)

At the United Nations General Assembly in September 2005, the Taoiseach said, "It is an affront to our common humanity, five years after the Millennium Summit, that 30,000 children die each day from easily preventable diseases, or that 100 million people go to bed hungry, or that 100 million children are not receiving a basic education." These words are included in the Foreword to the White Paper. They outline a major world problem and the White Paper serves as an attempt to tackle it.

Ireland is now a wealthy nation and is reckoned to be eighth among 177 countries in this regard. With wealth come duties, responsibilities and obligations. When Ireland was a poor country, it relied on emigration and the kindness of others and therefore it is now payback time. Every hour, 1,200 children die mostly from preventable diseases and they receive no media attention, only the attention of their grieving parents.

We have set our official aid target at 0.7% of our GNP and we expect to achieve it by 2012, which is well ahead of the EU target date of 2015. This will result in a sum of approximately €1.5 billion by 2012.

In 1996, overseas development assistance amounted to €142 million. One will note the great increase in the aid we make available, but is not enough just to give aid as we are also responsible for ensuring it is used wisely and does not end up in the hands of some dictator. This happened some years ago when Mengistu used the aid he got from the Europeans to slaughter his own people in Ethiopia. I spoke about this many times in the House and it could happen again, and it is therefore important that we monitor the spending of our aid.

There is a need to prevent AIDS and we are taking the lead in this regard. Our spending on HIV-AIDS and other conditions exceeds €100 million per year. In the three years of our partnership with the Clinton Foundation and the Government of Mozambique — I heard the Minister of State mention this — more than 500,000 people have been receiving HIV counselling and testing and 83 facilities are offering a service for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission.

While there is a moral imperative for wealthy countries like Ireland to provide assistance, their partner countries have a responsibility to use that assistance well. The aim should be to allocate aid to where it is needed and we must insist on steadfast adherence to democratic principles and human rights.

I express my appreciation for all our missionaries, including priests, brothers and nuns, who, over the years, went to work in the poorest countries of the world. Not only did they spread the faith but they also helped to establish hospitals, schools and small local industries. As the number of Irish religious missionaries declines, we rely increasingly on lay missionaries and NGOs to do their work, and that is why the White Paper is so important. It outlines the positive values of Irish people, their abhorrence of injustice and poverty, and their determination to assist the developing world.

We are no strangers in this country to the problems of terror and famine, and of our occupation for so long on the part of our nearest imperialist neighbour, and we are therefore glad to help others out of the imperialism of multinational exploitation, which faces many of the poorer countries. Huge multinationals rape the resources and wealth of the countries in question leaving very little for the native populations. It is in such countries we must monitor our aid to ensure it is spent on what we decide is necessary.

The Minister of State mentioned Malawi. It is a very poor country and is to be Ireland's ninth programme country. Some 12 or 15 years ago a delegation from the Brothers of St. John of God, comprising a doctor, brother and two nurses, went to Malawi and, without help from the Government of that country or anyone else, established a little hut which has now become a thriving hospital staffed by some Irish people and trained Malawians. This proves that with sufficient will and help, progress can be made.

The Minister of State mentioned we are to focus more on places such as Liberia and Sierra Leone. The trouble about speaking after the Minister of State is that he has, in his wide-ranging speech, said everything that needs to be said. I will, however, repeat some points because action thereon is so necessary. The White Paper seeks considerable public involvement and refers to the rapid response initiative, which will include a roster of highly skilled individuals from Ireland, to be deployed at short notice to emergencies and disasters as they occur. Thanks be to God no triple-lock mechanism applies to this sort of force. A dedicated unit for conflict analysis and resolution is to be established in the Department of Foreign Affairs to share Ireland's experience and knowledge of conflict resolution and peace building. That is also very important, as is the Hunger Task Force, which draws on public and private sector expertise to tackle the root causes of food insecurity, especially in Africa.

We will open an information and volunteering centre to facilitate those wishing to volunteer to work in the developing world. A schools-linking scheme will be established so that our schoolchildren can see for themselves the challenges their counterparts face in harsher environments. When poorer nations are mentioned, we frequently think of Africa, but there are great areas of poverty in South America and in parts of the Philippines, Indonesia and so on. It is a worldwide problem, and some continents are worse than others.

The Minister of State mentioned an interdepartmental committee on development that will be established at Cabinet level and through which the Oireachtas will be invited to arrange regular debates on development in the Dáil and Seanad. The most important part of the White Paper is the establishment of a governance unit to monitor where we are sending aid, how we are doing it and so on. As the Acting Chairman will know, we receive a great many documents on our desks from all kinds of people throughout the country and the world. There is a great tendency to throw many of them in the bin because since there are so many, we are overwhelmed with information.

However, I ask Members to read this report. As the Minister of State said, it is expected, hoped and designed to be non-partisan. It is a Government response that will continue irrespective of who is in power. It is not a party political matter but something to help the poorest of the poor. I ask each Member to read this. If Members have copies they do not require, they should send them to a school, for example, where people might do projects on them and so on. The report is among the finest to be produced recently and merits our attention.