Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House, and I welcome this timely debate on overseas development aid in this European Year of Development. Irish Aid, which has long been a central pillar of our foreign policy, retains wide cross-party support. As a post-colonial State which has faced serious food security issues, an Gorta Mór, poverty and underdevelopment, we are uniquely placed in Western Europe to provide an overseas aid programme based on solidarity.

Sinn Féin welcomes the fact that overseas development aid funding was not cut in the budget for 2015 as it had been in previous years. As many other Senators have mentioned, the target expenditure of 0.7% of GNP on overseas development assistance by 2015 will not be reached. It has been stated that the commitment still remains, but no roadmap or timeframe has been produced to show how and when the figure will be reached. In the interest of accountability and transparency, will the Department outline how and when it intends to reach the target?

The recent OECD Development Assistance Committee peer review of Ireland's overseas development aid singled out Ireland for its efforts on tackling hunger and food insecurity, and overall the review was positive. It is clear that Irish Aid continues to be one of the best aid programmes in the world. I pass on my congratulations and gratitude to all those who work in the programme, and to Irish NGO workers, who are fantastic ambassadors for the country.

However, Sinn Féin is concerned about an increased focus on multilateral assistance over bilateral assistance, a blurring of aid and trade and the Government's commitment to its whole-of-government approach to overseas development aid, ODA. The bilateral element of our ODA is a cornerstone of Irish Aid and our partner countries like to work with Ireland because of our fair and critical partner approach. The latest budget made a €10.05 million cut to bilateral assistance spending and an increase of €8.85 million to multilateral assistance spending. We must work with like-minded donor countries to improve aid and develop accountability and transparency. We must ensure that there are better donor-recipient relationships. Many countries share this goal with us, but others do not and many continue to use tied aid and export military products.

Further emphasis on multilateral spending has the potential to reduce accountability and transparency. For example, trade has fallen under the remit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In some regards, we are concerned by the possible influence this could have on ODA. Everyone agrees that increased trade is important for development, but it must be fair and mutually beneficial. Ireland should not use its aid programme to secure trade deals that may be seen to be overly favourable to Irish firms instead of doing what is best for the countries involved.