Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of staff who have been recruited in each of the past ten years; the projected numbers for the next five years; and the number of staff suggested by reports commissioned by his Department or the advisory committee on development co-operation in the staffing needs of Development Co-operation Ireland. [33483/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am presuming that the Deputy's question relates in its entirety to the staffing of the Department's development co-operation directorate.

The Taoiseach announced at the UN Millennium Review Summit in New York on 14 September that the Government will reach the target of spending 0.7% of GNP on official development assistance by 2012. We have agreed a number of steps along the way to achieving the target, including interim targets of 0.5% of GNP in 2007 and 0.6% in 2010. We have, therefore, a clear pathway to achieving the UN target in 2012. The precise allocation to the Department's Vote for International Co-operation, Vote 29, will be announced in the context of the Estimates. However, on the basis of current anticipated growth rates, total ODA, at 0.47% of GNP in 2006, is expected to be of the order of €675 million.

Over the next weeks and months, the Department will assess the staffing levels which will be required to manage a significantly expanded aid programme. In this context, regard will be had to the staffing levels recommended by the Ireland Aid Review Committee, and by an outside consultant, which latter study was commissioned by the Advisory Committee to Development Co-operation Ireland.

The Deputy will be interested to know that ten new posts for the directorate were approved by the Department of Finance in November 2000, and a further 22 in February 2002. In addition, three staff from the former National Committee for Development Education and 17 staff of the former Agency for Personal Service Overseas were integrated into the directorate in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

The following table indicates the number of new staff recruited by the Department and assigned to the directorate over the past six years. It should be noted that a number of staff will also have left the directorate during this period. Unfortunately, it was not possible to assemble recruitment data for the preceding four years in the time available.