Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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At the end of 2004, the Government announced that a White Paper will be published on the future of Ireland's official development assistance programme. This will be the first ever White Paper on the programme and it comes at a time when unprecedented resources are being allocated to development co-operation. At least €1.8 billion of public money will be spent in this area over the next three years and it is important that the public has an opportunity to make its views known about how best to spend it.

As a first step in the preparation of the White Paper, the Department of Foreign Affairs is engaged in a wide ranging process of public consultation. In January of this year, advertisements were placed in the national press seeking written submissions on the future of the programme. The deadline for the receipt of submissions is 30 April but extensions have been granted to those organisations which have sought them.

A series of public meetings has been arranged in different locations around the country and is now under way. The list of meetings currently scheduled is 13 April in Limerick, 27 April in Waterford, 3 May in Athlone, 4 May in Galway, 10 May in Cork, 17 May in Tralee and 24 May in Dublin. This list is not exhaustive. I plan to hold further meetings in September to cover those parts of the country not covered by the meetings currently scheduled. I will attend all of the planned meetings to listen to the views offered and to answer questions as appropriate.

In September, the advisory board to Development Co-operation Ireland will expand its regular development forum to facilitate further consultations on the White Paper. While the organisation of the forum is primarily a matter for the advisory board, it is expected that participants will be drawn from academia, trade unions, business, the media, political parties and the social partners, in addition to the usual attendees from NGOs, the missionary organisations and my Department.

Views will also be sought from multilateral organisations in Geneva and New York, in particular those UN agencies and bodies with which Ireland has a long standing relationship. We will also be examining the work of other major donors, including our EU partners. At the end of our consultations, my Department will begin the work of analysing in detail the submissions and other information that has been gathered and will consult on an ongoing basis with other Departments. I envisage that a draft of the White Paper will be ready for circulation to Departments early in 2006.

It is expected that the White Paper will be published in the first half of 2006. The White Paper offers an important opportunity to set out clearly the principles which have guided our work to date and also to examine how we can best address the challenges facing us in the future in this most important area of our foreign policy.