Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The report to which the motion refers endorses the Government's overseas aid development programme. I recognise that Ireland has increased its overseas aid by 90% since 2003. This has helped establish Ireland as a respected world leader in the field of humanitarian aid, poverty reduction, information and education provision and the alleviation of hunger and disease. The report emphasises the quality and commitment of Irish Aid representatives at home and in our donor countries. These individuals, as well as the many NGOs supported by Irish Aid, have done the State a great service and should be proud of their contribution to helping the world's poor and advancing the development agenda.

The report also issues a number of timely warnings in the context of Ireland's success to date. Specifically, the report states that the Government should reaffirm its commitment, entered into by the former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, to give 0.7% of gross national income to overseas aid and development by 2012. Recent Government cuts have thrown this target into serious doubt. The overseas aid budget was cut by €45 million last July, €15 million last October, €95 million in February of this year and €100 million in April. A total of €250 million has been slashed from the budget in the last ten months, representing more than 20% of the total aid budget when Government coffers are reducing by only 8%. Cuts in the overseas aid budget are disproportionate.

I have received considerable correspondence on the impact of these cuts. They will cause cutbacks in donor programmes throughout the world. Concern announced last week that these cuts would lead to a reduction in the number of jobs and in programmes. Yesterday, in The Irish Times Fintan O'Toole highlighted the impact of some of these cuts. A programme in Afghanistan which provides education to 25,000 women is being drastically cut. It is not long since women in Afghanistan could not access education. This cut will not make things better for them. Members of the House were touched by the poverty depicted in the Oscar winning film, "Slumdog Millionaire". A nutrition programme for 35,000 children in the slums of Bangladesh will not no go ahead because of cuts. In Haiti, where terror reigned until recently, a programme to educate 6,000 children is being shut down. When our international reputation needs to be improved, these cutbacks do not help.

Given the self-congratulatory motion tabled by Fianna Fáil Senators, I must assume they have some information we do not have. They seem very confident that the aid budget will not be subject to further cuts. We are already 1.2% off the target of 0.6% for next year. Do Fianna Fáil Senators and the Minister of State accept that further cuts to the aid budget would be immoral, unjustified and grossly detrimental to the operational abilities of Irish Aid.

I do not accept the plea bargain often offered that if recipient countries became more efficient and rooted out corruption they would be able to spend more money. I have seen at first hand how some of our programme countries are tackling corruption. It is present but it is being tackled. A case study in Uganda found that the Irish Aid programme there is strongly aligned with that government's own systems and that 97% of expenditure goes through a financial accounting system while the average in other countries is only 60%. Some 88% of our funds go through country procurement systems, which is very positive. I am grateful to the Irish ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Anne Barrington, who kindly forwarded a book entitled, A Parliament With Teeth, For Tanzania, published by the Africa Research Institute. In the book Mr. John Cheyo, chair of the public accounts committee there, writes that if the Government misuses funding given to Tanzania by other countries, Tanzanian MPs should be answerable to MPs in the donor countries for their performance.

Senator Ormonde, from the other side of the House, and I visited Tanzania last year and met Mr. Cheyo and discussed this point. In the book, Dr. Williebrod Slaa, chair of the local authorities accounts committee stated that any good, accountable government should be ready to open its books whenever and wherever it is asked to do so. Nothing should be private between the Government of Tanzania and donors. It is clear that recipient countries such as Uganda and Tanzania understand the need for accountability and transparency and how important it is to the citizens of our country. From the evidence I have seen it appears real efforts are being made to tackle corruption. Our money is not lining the pockets of some dictator, it is making a real difference to the lives of the poor.

I do not agree that our citizens are weary of giving aid. More information should be communicated in terms of the benefits of such aid but so too should the message that this is not costing us very much in real terms. Peter Singer noted in his recently published book, The Life You Can Save, that in a survey carried out in the United States of America, when people were asked how much they thought the American Government was spending on foreign aid, they replied that it was probably 20% of the overall budget. When asked how much they wished to be spent, they stated the ideal amount was approximately 10%. The reality is that a little less than 1% is spent and there is a huge chasm between what many people believe is spent on aid and how much is spent. I suggest a similar study carried out here would probably produce similar results.

I have no confidence whatsoever that the Government will protect the aid budget from further cuts. This lack of confidence stems, in part, from a comparable state of affairs with Ireland's largely defunct equality and rights infrastructure. There have been international and institutional reports on the matter too and Ireland had been regularly singled out on the European and International stage as an example of a society with a vibrant equality and rights landscape. The development of this infrastructure only began in earnest in the 1990s and it took almost 20 years to grow and develop into a truly dynamic series of groups and organisations that promoted diversity, tolerance and social cohesion. However, it took Fianna Fáil, in conjunction with its partner, the Green Party, just two years to destroy this almost entirely. The Government seems to be pursuing a systematic shutdown of independence and critical voices within the State. This is why I have no confidence in the Government's ability to protect the Irish aid budget. Recent years have proven that Fianna Fáil is a fair weather friend, grand for the good times but nowhere to be seen when the going gets tough.

With that in mind I call on the Government Senators to try to prove me wrong. I genuinely hope that I am proved wrong on this issue. I live in hope but I expect the Minister will tell us that nothing is sacred given the global economic downturn and that everything is on the table. I accept the argument that we have come a long way in the past ten years but we have not reached the end of our journey. The improvements of the past decade are proof that we have reached a point in the road where we can walk shoulder high with other nations and do our bit to help others along the way on a journey to a fairer world.

I wish to continue to be able to say to citizens in such countries and Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and Denmark that we are matching their efforts to promote equality throughout the world. I wish to give example to citizens in such countries as Portugal, Italy and Greece and to encourage them to increase their aid programmes which currently fall well below the average effort.

Jeffrey Sachs, the well respected campaigner for the developing world, predicts that the end of poverty is within sight if the developed world does its share to allow it take place. We are a small country and we can do our share by giving an example to the rest of the world. This recession will be over one day and when it is I wish to be able to say that I did my share and that my country did its share. I call on the Government Members to do their share to ensure the Government does not let us down on this issue.