Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the words of Senator Leyden in very much welcoming the fact that the Government has supported the opening of the inquiry into the hooded men case. It was an appalling vista and it is good that it will be addressed even at this late stage.

I ask that the Leader would allow the House to have a debate at some stage on Irish Aid and its effectiveness. I very much welcome the report by the OECD development assistance committee, which reported yesterday that Ireland continues to excel in delivering effective aid. The peer review that took place was an in-depth review of each country's aid programme and it was carried out by peers in other government aid programmes. In this case the review was carried out by Austria and Portugal with Lithuania as an observer.

It was conducted over the course of a year. The report shows that Ireland continues to be a world leader in effectively tackling hunger and poverty and assisting the world's poorest communities. As citizens, we can be particularly proud of the work being done on our behalf by Irish Aid and the difference it makes to millions of people around the world. To put it in context, extreme poverty has been reduced by half since 1990 and 17,000 fewer children die each day. However, it remains the case that one in nine people worldwide remain hungry. Ireland spends 20% of its development budget fighting hunger and is working hard to galvanise international action. Next year, Ireland will contribute in the region of €600 million in overseas development assistance, which is a significant amount. For this reason and to assure Irish people that this aid is being spent well and that progress is being made in the poorest regions, it is important we have a debate with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade on our overseas development aid budget.

Later today we will have a debate on homelessness. If we can be seen to be world leaders in developing assistance and aid internationally surely we should be able to tackle a much smaller scale problem in our own country. I look forward to the forum that is being convened tomorrow by the Minister in that regard.