Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, trade promotion and North-South co-operation, Deputy Sherlock. He has a particularly challenging role and he has been making significant progress since he took office.

It is timely to have this debate as it is more than 40 years since the establishment of Ireland's official development assistance. Ireland and the Irish people had engaged with Africa and other developing parts of the world for many years before that, particularly through the many missionaries who travelled from this country and worked among the poorest people in the world. It was a man who started his political career in this House, the late Dr. Garret FitzGerald, who, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, led the establishment of the aid programme when Ireland became a member of the European Union.

Today, Irish Aid is the Government's aid programme, which is managed on behalf of the Irish people by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It is designed to reduce poverty and hunger, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Irish Aid is a key part of Ireland's foreign policy, as recognised in the recent policy review, The Global Island. The aid programme supports long-term development and provides humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries, with a particular focus on eight key partner countries in sub-Saharan Africa and one in Asia.

One of the partner countries is Malawi, which is currently experiencing severe floods. I welcome the announcement yesterday by the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, that in excess of €500,000 worth of supplies are being airlifted into the region for distribution by Irish Aid partners, Concern, GOAL, Trócaire and the Evangelical Association of Malawi, to help displaced families in the worst affected districts in the southern region of Malawi. More than 630,000 people are affected, which is a staggering figure. There are huge risks of disease due to poor sanitation. Bilateral overseas development aid to Malawi from Ireland amounted to €14 million in 2014, with an additional €6 million channelled through Irish NGOs, missionaries and other Irish agencies.

Irish Aid's contribution in respect of the Ebola crisis has been mentioned. The disease has taken the lives of 9,000 people. A sum of €18 million has been contributed.

The conflict in Syria was mentioned by Senator Walsh. The conflict has seen 200,000 people lose their lives and 12.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Irish Aid has contributed €29 million. We probably should have a wider discussion on our involvement and assistance in the Syrian situation. The number of displaced people is truly frightening. Should we do more in lieu of assistance, possibly by giving homes and assistance here to additional numbers of refugees from Syria? Perhaps the Minister of State would comment on that.

The key focus of the Irish Aid programme in Malawi and other partner countries is strengthening the vulnerable communities' resilience to the effects of climate change and other shocks, improving the livelihood of the poorest communities, and improving food and nutrition security. The Irish Aid programme is guided by Ireland's international development policy, One World, One Future, which was published in 2013 and a detailed implementation plan, Framework for Action, which was published in 2014. The new policy confirms our commitment to achieving the UN target of 0.7% of GNP for overseas development aid when the economic circumstances permit. I share the concerns expressed by Senator Walsh about the cut in overseas development aid since 2008. However, in the past two years the Government has managed to stabilise the figure and hopefully it will increase. The 2015 allocation will be €600 million. The cut since 2008, at 30%, has been quite severe, but the allocation has been stabilised and we hope to see the cut gradually reversed.

Even during the worst of the recession the Irish people strongly supported the work of Irish Aid and wished to help those who are less fortunate. One of the reasons is the reputation of the Irish Aid programme. The Minister referred to the recent peer review, the four yearly examination of Irish development assistance policies. Erik Solheim, the chair of the OECD development assistance committee, commented on the Irish Aid programme and said that Ireland sets an example in focusing development aid on the neediest countries. He said:

Irish development assistance has contributed to the enormous development success of the past couple of decades. Extreme poverty has been halved in one generation. The likelihood of a child dying before the age of five has been halved, saving 17,000 children every day. More than 170 million people, almost 40 times the population of Ireland, are no longer living with chronic hunger. ... Ireland is a world leader in foreign aid to countries most in need. Global development assistance reached a record high of €135 billion last year, but many countries are giving a decreasing share to the least developed countries.

Many countries that are much wealthier than ours have reneged on some of the commitments they made over the years. Mr. Solheim said that Ireland's contribution was among the highest in the world and is well above the UN target.

As the Minister said, 2015 will be a critical year in the fight against extreme poverty and hunger.

We have less than 12 months left to maximise the progress that was made under the Millennium Development Goals and to put in place a new framework for international development. This new framework must reflect a significant shift to sustainable development that has clear and ambitious targets that can end extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition in a single generation. This initiative will entail great responsibilities and actions for all countries. There will be major challenges in areas such as energy, food, water, climate, conflict resolution and effective governance. Climate change must be at the top of the agenda.

Recently Trócaire brought to our attention a report entitled Feeling the Heat: How Climate Change is Driving Extreme Weather in the Developing World. The report was developed by the department of geography, NUI Maynooth, and drew on 150 publications on recent research. The report shows how climate change is likely to unfold in some of the most vulnerable countries in the world. Climate change is the greatest injustice of our time and the people who do the least to cause it suffer the most.

The Minister of State referred to the legally binding international agreement on climate change that will be sought at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Negotiations to be held in Paris in December. As he stated, Ireland has a key role to play in achieving agreement on the new sustainable development goals as last month the President of the UN General Assembly appointed Ireland and Kenya to co-facilitate the final major international negotiations at the United Nations over the coming year. The appointment is a great honour for Ireland but it also brings huge responsibilities. The challenge for the co-facilitators will be to build a consensus among the 193 member states, on a very broad and comprehensive agenda, to be adopted at a major summit of world leaders to be held in New York in September. We have to succeed because the lives of the world's poorest and most deprived depends on us to convince others that those who are better off must provide resources to help those in the developing work.

I shall finish by wishing the Minister of State continued success and thank the Acting Chairman for his indulgence.