Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 118: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the concerns raised by a person (details supplied) in relation to the corruption of some African Governments and the inadvisability of giving money to such Governments; his plans to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19743/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the concerns of the person referred to by the Deputy, particularly in relation to Ethiopia and Uganda. No Irish Aid funding goes directly to the Government of Ethiopia via direct or general budget support. International donors who previously provided funds for direct budget support in Ethiopia are redirecting those funds to a new multi-donor trust fund monitored by the UN. Ireland contributed significantly to the design of this new mechanism.

In the case of Uganda, Irish Aid redirected its funds from general budget support in 2002 to a ring-fenced mechanism, the Poverty Action Fund (PAF) supporting health, education, rural roads and agriculture.

Building good governance in the African countries assisted by Ireland, including tackling corruption, is a key priority of our aid programme. This includes assistance for building democratic systems of government that are underpinned by free and fair elections, strengthening the rule of law, enhancing respect for human rights, improving transparency and accountability through initiatives to enhance public financial management and building the capacity of civil society to influence and monitor public policy decisions.

Irish Aid gives the highest priority to ensuring that Irish tax-payers' money is spent efficiently and effectively for the benefit of the poor in all our programme countries.