Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 248: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the annual incremental increases agreed by which Ireland would provide 0.7% of its GNP in development aid by 2012 in view of the serious slippage which has occurred in achieving same. [14152/05]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The allocation for 2005 provides for an increase of €70 million in Government spending on official development assistance this year. This will bring total Government aid to the developing world to approximately €545 million in 2005, the highest allocation in the 30-year history of the aid programme. The Government has also agreed to provide further increases of €65 million in each of the years 2006 and 2007. These substantial increases mean that over the three years from 2005 to 2007, €1.8 billion will be spent by Ireland on development assistance.

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 ongoing review. As a matter of record the Taoiseach has not made a pledge to achieve the target of 0.7% by 2012. In fact the 2012 date is my personal preference for when we should try to achieve the target. Clearly, any decision on a new target date would be a matter for the Cabinet.