Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

I often agree with my learned colleague, Senator O'Toole. As he is also from County Kerry, it is often hard to disagree with him. He cannot be accused of rambling, even if he suggested that he rambled a little in his contribution. I agree that there is some merit in elements of the Fine Gael amendment. I remind those who have called for these cuts to be reversed that we are obviously in difficult times. The Swedish model of overseas development is often held up as an exemplar. When the Swedish economy was in trouble in 1992, the Swedish Government had to take a backward step in its overseas development assistance budget, unfortunately, in order to be able to move forward thereafter. Like Senator O'Toole, I acknowledge the work of Christian Aid, Trócaire, Concern and other groups that are doing substantial work not only in our partner countries but also in other countries throughout the world. I have seen the incredible life-saving work they have done in Gaza, for example. The most disturbing element of these cuts is that if we could give more money, more lives could be saved. That is the stark and shocking reality. It is hard to know where to start and end one's efforts.

Senator Mullen made a critical point about agriculture in the context of the work of the Government's hunger task force. He referred to the lack of productivity of soil in many parts of Africa. He suggested that the agricultural methods used by the people of Africa is contributing to the perpetuation of hunger on that Continent. That, in turn, has a detrimental effect on education etc. and thereby keeps the cycle of poverty going. While money, in itself, is a huge help in crises throughout the world, it is not the only solution. It keeps people alive in places like Congo, Gaza, Vietnam, where Ireland is involved, and Central America. We have to be smarter in these economic times, however. While Senator Buttimer can be adversarial at times, he made some great points this evening. Senator Fitzgerald acknowledged that the OECD has highlighted the things we are doing right. She was gracious enough to quote from the OECD report time and again. One cannot say that we are doing everything right, however. No Government and no person has ever done everything 100% right. We are attempting to do that and we have taken huge steps to that end. We are doing much better, proportionately, than we were ten or 15 years ago. The Irish people are demanding that we do better.

Some of my learned colleagues in the Gallery - I am not allowed to refer to them by name - have said that there are no votes to be gained in local, European or general elections from showing an interest in overseas aid. That does not mean that the Government or the Members of the Oireachtas should not pursue a policy of helping those who do not have an effect on our parliamentary system. The right thing to do is to pursue such a policy. Like the Minister of State and everyone else in this Chamber, I regret any backward step that is taken in respect of overseas aid. When the economy turns around, I believe we will take financial steps to help those in the world's poorest economies in the long run. Ten years ago, we would not have imagined that we would be giving so much money to the poorest people in the world. We would not have envisaged that the OECD would be lauding Ireland for the efforts it has taken to date. It is obvious that backward steps have been taken in recent times. I hope that in ten years' time, Ireland will have surpassed the 0.7% goal. It is a target that is ahead of other EU countries. When we have a similar debate ten years from now, I hope we will be proud of our achievements.