Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. I thank him for his opening statements on the Government's policy on overseas development aid.

There has been a lot of criticism levelled at the Government for failing to achieve 0.7% GDP by 2015 which was a stated target in the programme for Government. I am a little bit on shaky ground here because I must admit that up to 2007 I was a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. Therefore, I was more informed and contributed to a lot of debates on overseas development aid. If I am right, when the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, addressed the United Nations in 2000, as part of the Millennium Development Goals, he committed the then Government to achieving the 0.7% GDP at that early stage. However, throughout the Celtic tiger years we never achieved the target although we got very close and then the crash happened. There was a great deal of debate around the early part of 2007, and even some suggestion that we should reduce the percentage again. Please correct me if I am wrong to say that Governments play ping pong with ODA and the rate comes and goes depending on prevailing winds. Since 2008 the percentage has decreased and it has now reached 0.43%. I do not doubt the bona fides of the Government or the Minister of State's Department that they have tried to get a greater share of the pot.

The Minister of State made the point that nine out of ten Irish people believe "assisting developing countries is important, and over two thirds are supportive of an increase in the aid budget." Even with that there are still dissenting voices in this country but that is nothing new. I can remember way back there was a selfish view that we should look after our own people first. In fact, it is not an either-or situation.

The Minister of State is right that the Government, like previous Governments, is committed to the overall concept of providing overseas development aid. However, I am curious about some of the changes included in the policy entitled One World, One Future. He said that the aid programme will now address "climate change, governance and human rights issues and integrating trade and inclusive economic growth." I am rather interested in this development because for a long time the Irish Government was criticised for not addressing or equating human rights issues with overseas development aid. We seem to have adopted a charitable approach that is based on giving aid to six target countries in Africa. Perhaps the list has been changed since.