Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of aid allocated the countries of the Middle East for 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34423/06]

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the level of aid provided to the Palestinian Authority in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34438/06]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which international aid has been delivered to the Lebanon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34843/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 103, 107 and 212 together.

This year Ireland, through Irish Aid, has delivered significant development and humanitarian funding in the Middle East. The bulk of Ireland's assistance — over €7.5 million in 2006 — has been allocated to Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq. In addition, micro-project development support of €140,000 has also been provided in Syria and Jordan.

In 2006, we have allocated some €5.4 million to meet the humanitarian and development needs of the Palestinian people. Ireland's core objective in providing assistance to Palestine is to alleviate the consequences of the conflict, by enhancing the capacity of Ireland's partners in Palestine to respond to the current crisis and, where possible, to begin to meet the future development needs of the Palestinian people. Currently, funding is not provided directly to the Palestinian Authority.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) remains our key partner in the provision of basic, emergency assistance to the Palestinian people. Ireland has provided €2 million in assistance to UNRWA this year. This core funding facilitates UNRWA in responding with flexibility to Palestinian needs in the West Bank, Gaza and also in the region, including refugees in Jordan, Syria and the Lebanon.

In Palestine, our development funding is focused on the provision of support for basic education, strengthening local government through local and rural development programmes and support for key United Nations agencies. In addition, Ireland has provided funding through partner NGOs and Bethlehem University.

Ireland responded swiftly to the crisis in Lebanon earlier this year. A total of €1.3 million was approved for delivery for humanitarian operations via key UN and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) with a proven record of delivering effective assistance on the ground. On 31 August, at the Stockholm Donor Conference, I pledged a further €2 million for recovery and longer-term reconstruction and assistance in Lebanon and Palestine over the next two years.

The Financial Tracking Service system of the United Nations has reported that over US$362 million in humanitarian funding has been committed by donors in response to the emergency phase of the crisis in the Lebanon. At the recent Stockholm Conference in support of Lebanon, some US$900 million was pledged by donors in support of early recovery and rehabilitation.

Ireland continues to respond to the humanitarian situation in Iraq and in 2006, funding of €850,000 has been provided in support of mine clearance and health programmes.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on many countries of the European Union distorting their official aid figures in relation to the EU commitment to achieving 0.7% of GNP by 2015 by including debt cancellation, assistance to refugees and student welfare as part of their development expenditure; and if he has had discussions on the matter. [34488/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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There has been public debate about which categories of assistance should properly be classified as Official Development Assistance or ODA. A recent report by the NGO Action Aid highlighted differences between what is regarded as 'real aid' and 'phantom aid'. The Joint European NGO report, entitled, EU aid: genuine leadership or misleading figures?, which was published a few months ago, also touched upon these themes. The latter report stated that, while official figures released earlier this year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission indicated that Member States were indeed living up to their promises as regards the scaling-up of their official development assistance, almost one third of reported ODA in 2005 did not provide any new aid for developing countries. Rather, said the report, it was in fact accounted for by debt cancellation, foreign student costs and refugees in donor countries.

The internationally agreed rules for aid reporting are set by the OECD. Some of the categories referred to by the Deputy may be eligible as development assistance, under OECD rules. It should be recalled that debt relief, for example, makes an important contribution to development. I should also point out that Ireland's development assistance consists almost entirely of funding in grant form to programmes and projects. Indeed, in the Action Aid report, referred to earlier, Ireland retained its position as the donor with the highest share of real aid.