Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin supports the Bill. It is right that Ireland should play a part in supporting development in Africa. A different model is needed than that of the old foreign development aid, which tended to extract as much from African countries as it gave.

I note that most of the money given out by the African Development Bank is for key infrastructure such as roads, water supplies and communications. There are parts of Africa where such infrastructure is desperately needed. In the briefing note, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade makes reference to the opportunities for Irish companies to take part in the development projects in Africa as a result of our membership of the African Development Bank. We should be members of it on its own merit. Hundreds of years of colonisation have left many parts of Africa severely underdeveloped.A cruel irony is that many of the parts of the continent experience the worst affects of climate change as well. There is need for development capital to invest in renewable energy. I note that during the debate in the Seanad on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017, serious questions were raised about human rights abuses in member countries of that bank. I share the same concerns regarding this Bill and I hope that through regular appearances by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence and the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, we can address any concerns in this regard.

Ireland's contribution of €62 million is small both from the perspective of our budget and the budget of the bank, with the eight instalments amounting to approximately €8 million per annum for participation in the fund. There is a paid-up contribution of in the region of €37.8 million for membership of the bank, which is also payable over eight years and amounts to approximately €4.7 million per annum. The first instalment is to be paid on enactment of this Bill. We need, therefore, to give the Bill full scrutiny. In Ireland's case, the maximum capital under the agreement would amount to less than €600 million. While it is highly unlikely that this amount would ever be called upon, we should treat this Bill and its enactment as if it were a possibility.

Does the Minister propose to request that the annual report of the fund or the bank be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas? We should also consider the connected issue of Ireland's overall aid commitment to developing countries. We still have a journey ahead of us to meet our overseas development aid obligations. The recent report of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence indicates that for Ireland to reach the 0.7% target by 2030 the overall aid programme needs to grow from €707 million to €2.5 billion or an increase of €150 million per annum over the period, which amounts to an increase of approximately €1.8 billion.

Budget 2019 announced on 9 October provides an additional €110 million for 2019. The Government is, therefore, falling short in respect of what our trajectory should be. The State's GDP is distorted but there are times, such as when meeting our fiscal targets, that this plays to our advantage. We are still a long way from reaching our overseas development aid obligations. There must be a clear trajectory and a roadmap from Government on how it proposes to do this. It should be separated from the budgetary process to make it clear internationally that we stand by our commitments and that we meet them.

My colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, raised concern that a large portion of contributions to the development bank can be counted as overseas development aid. What percentage will be counted? We have to ensure that in investing, as provided for in this Bill, we are not double counting the money and claiming it is a donation.