Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 479: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the setback to the millennium development goals caused by the tsunami disaster, he will consider renewing the Government's commitment to reaching the UN official development aid target of 0.7% of GNP by 2007. [1555/05]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has allocated €20 million to meet emergency and recovery needs following the tsunami disaster in south Asia. Of this, €10 million is additional to the overall aid budget announced in the Estimates in November 2004. The remaining €10 million will be paid from the emergency humanitarian assistance fund which was set up to respond to disasters of this kind.

The Government remains strongly committed to achieving the UN target for expenditure on ODA. In the coming months, Development Cooperation Ireland will launch a consultative process that will lead to the first ever Government White Paper on development assistance. All interested stakeholders will be asked for their views. The issue of how best to meet the UN target, and in what timeframe, will be taken into account in the preparation of the White Paper.