Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is very important to have him here to outline the work that has been done in the area of overseas aid. Obviously, it is welcome that we are increasing our annual funding up to €840 million. Hopefully, over the lifetime of this Government, that money will continue to increase.

It is important to have a debate for the benefit of the Irish public. We know that the money is going to overseas aid but many people do not really know where it is being spent, who is benefiting or whether we actually oversee where it is invested. The Minister of State referred to a number of countries and to projects that support people in those countries. That was quite interesting, because we predominantly invest in women in some of those countries he mentioned. We invest in women's healthcare, whether it is in the context of maternity issues, blood pressure or gender equality. It seems to be that much of our investment predominantly goes to women and childcare. That is incredibly important.

The Minister of State has visited a number of countries and he has seen at first hand the impact our investment makes. When responding to the debate, can he provide examples of the timeline relating to our investment, what is being done to support the people to whom I refer and the positive outcomes from our investment that have been seen in communities in the countries he has visited? He mentioned Sierra Leone and the Rainbo Initiative. Could he elaborate on that, particularly as the foreign affairs committee has met with an awful lot of organisations. As a committee, we always try to travel to one of the developing countries every year. Next year, members of the committee will hopefully be visiting Sierra Leone and Libya. Can the Minister of State provide some further information in terms of what exactly is done to support the Rainbo Initiative?

The funding we give has a positive impact in countries. It is something we should be very proud of. Irish people in general are very proud of what is done with that money. The investment we are giving - and we are one of the highest investors per capita globally - is really significant. The Minister of State talked about overseas development aid and the projects we are spending this money on. He mentioned that there are 305 million people across the world who need humanitarian assistance. At the moment, we only have funding to target one third of those. In that context, is our aid targeted in terms of countries or at situations across all countries? What essentially happens to the other two thirds? America is an obvious case but we all know of countries that have pulled back from providing support. America is the most high-profile example because it gives the most money. The impact from its reduction is almost impossible to counteract in the context of other countries increasing their investment. What kind of impact is that having? Has enough time passed to allow us to see the negative impact of that lack of investment? From a diplomatic perspective, what can the Irish State do to try to convince the countries to which I refer to reinvest in overseas aid?

The Minister of State outlined that this has a positive impact on those countries, but it also has a positive impact on us. There are conversations happening at every dinner table about pressures on investment, infrastructure, healthcare, education and security in Ireland. We have a rapidly growing economy, and people are coming into this country. We welcome the vast majority of them, but they are leaving countries because they are not developed and are not getting the investment they need to develop. When we talk about the concerns regarding so many people coming into this country, some of the best money the State is spending is that relating to overseas development. Such development gives people the option of staying in their own countries if they choose to do so. I was talking with Councillor Ben Ward before this debate began. Councillor Ward is doing an awful lot of work on this at the moment in terms of the positive impact that overseas aid can give and how, politically, that can be provide an impetus going forward. This is an important debate.

The Minister of State has done really good work in terms of trying to get the narrative out there in the context of what we do, how we do it and how we oversee every single penny the Irish people put into this. It is not just given and nothing is known about where it goes. We are seeing positive impacts. If the Minister of State could expand on that a bit more, it would be helpful. I do not know what we can do to try to get other countries on board and encourage them to stop being inward looking in terms of the political decisions they are making and be outward looking and realising they can benefit from further investment.

I look forward to working with the Minister of State in this Chamber and at the foreign affairs committee in the context of helping all the people who work for organisations in various countries around the world on behalf of Ireland. They do phenomenal work. We can never give them enough money to do the work that is needed. We must always recognise that the work they do is hugely significant and plays a massive and positive role in terms of the respect we are shown as a country.