Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps being taken by Ireland at international level to support the millennium development goals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13488/05]

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 97: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress which has been made to date by the constituent members of the European Union in their respective reviews of their commitments to the world millennium development goals; the progress the Government has made in honouring the commitment solemnly made in September 2000 in this regard, which was recently broken; if there is now a proposal to honour this promise made to the world's poorest; the likely date of publication of the Irish review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13566/05]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 97 together.

Ireland attaches the greatest importance to the achievement of the eight millennium development goals, the so-called MDGs. The United Nations Secretary General will conduct the first major review of progress towards the implementation of the goals in September of this year. In preparation for this review, in January the UN Millennium Project — an independent advisory body, commissioned by the UN Secretary General and led by Professor Jeffrey Sachs — presented its report, Investing in Development; a Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Kofi Annan drew on this report in preparing his own report, In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security, and Human Rights for All, published in March, in which he has carefully crafted a package of policy commitments and institutional reforms that the world's leaders could adopt in September. The package deals with the interlinked issues of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, genocide and civil war, as well as extreme poverty, endemic disease and climate change. In order to end extreme poverty and achieve the MDGs, Mr. Annan calls on the international community to implement existing commitments on ODA levels, debt and trade, made at the Millennium Summit and at theMonterrey Conference of 2002.

Ireland will play an active role in the lead up to the September review conference. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has been asked by Secretary General Annan to act as one of his personal envoys to build the necessary support among countries in our own region and to ensure that the September high level meeting restores momentum to the achievement of the MDGs and a strengthened United Nations system.

The Government remains strongly committed to achieving the UN target for expenditure on ODA. The issue of how best to meet the target, and in what timeframe, is under consideration at present. I have recently launched a consultative process that will lead to a White Paper on development co-operation and I look forward to receiving views from all interested groups and members of the public on this and other issues.

As the world's largest aid donor, the EU has a major role to play in the achievement of the MDGs and Ireland will continue to work to ensure that the EU provides strong leadership in moving towards their implementation. Together with our EU partners, we are currently considering proposals for a consolidated EU contribution to the MDG review at the UN high level event in September. These proposals cover the broad headings of financial resources, policy coherence and Africa, which are the three priority areas already identified by the council. One of the proposals is for a new interim ODA volume target that would significantly increase the overall EU contribution by 2010.

Within the EU, Ireland will press for greater emphasis on linking increased ODA levels with improved aid quality. We also support the goal of 100% debt cancellation for the heavily indebted poor countries, on the basis of additional donor resources. This could release vital resources to help those countries achieve the MDGs.

We fully endorse the focus in the Secretary General's report on the needs of least developed countries and in particular the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where our national development co-operation programme is centred. Some 85% of our bilateral programme country assistance is spent in that region.

We will continue to prioritise the fight against HIV-AIDS. Ireland's total expenditure for HIV-AIDS work is of the order of €50 million this year, channelled through bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental programmes. We will urge our EU partners that tackling the AIDS epidemic must be done at national level and that it requires a well resourced, longer term, comprehensive attack on poverty, as well as adequate financial resources for HIV-AIDS work.

I firmly believe that every country is responsible for its own development and for the welfare and the well-being of its citizens. A key lesson from Ireland's own development experience is the importance of the role of government. Progress towards the goals will only be possible if primary responsibility is assumed by developing countries themselves. Ireland's approach to the implementation of the goals is in conformity with the recommendations of the Secretary General's report.