Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

Last week I was one of the members of a delegation from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs which visited Malawi. It was heartening to see the contribution of Irish Aid in that country. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 60% of the population below the poverty line. We saw at first hand the challenges facing the people of Malawi. I commend the embassy and the non-governmental organisations on their work with these people and the programmes that give them some quality of life in their rural communities. Because of the recent death of the father of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power, this is probably not a suitable time to ask him to attend the Chamber for a debate. However, will the Deputy Leader ask the Minister of State to come to the House for a discussion on Irish Aid and the work it is doing. I was very heartened, particularly when we have experienced such a bad time in this country in the past few weeks, to see what happens out there. It would be worthwhile to have a discussion on how Irish aid is administered and to show the taxpayer that the money is well spent and they are getting value for money. This would be a worthwhile discussion when we have the opportunity to include it in the agenda.