Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 158: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which it can be verified that overseas development aid is received by those to whom it was intended in each, all or most cases; the procedures in place for such verification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34371/08]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I would like to assure the Deputy that it is of particular importance to me that Irish tax payers' money benefits the poorest and most vulnerable people of the countries in which we operate.

Irish Aid funding is protected by rigorous monitoring, accounting and audit controls which are in place in all countries where we provide development assistance and such controls and systems mean that funding is directed to those areas most in need. In our Programme Countries, Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) are developed in consultation with the national government and in support of their poverty reduction strategy. These papers outline the programmes and projects that Irish Aid will support over a three to five year period. The strategies have a monitoring framework with indicators and targets to measure improvements in basic services.

In addition, Irish Aid is actively engaged with Governments and other donors in national policy and budget allocation discussions. These discussions are aimed at ensuring that funding for basic services and poverty reduction programmes are protected or increased. A number of Programme Countries are introducing special social protection programmes to target those who are chronically poor.

Monitoring of programmes and projects is carried out by national Auditors General, donors and civil society groups on an annual basis. Particular attention is paid to progress in relation to reducing the number of people living below the poverty line and increasing access to basic health, education and water and sanitation.

I am aware that poor governance is a problem in many developing countries and there are concerns regarding corruption. This is a symptom of the level of underdevelopment that exists. We are working with other donors to help strengthen public financial management systems and the institutions of governance, such as the Offices of the Auditor General.

In addition, there are regular audits carried out by independent audit firms whilst Irish Aid has also its own Evaluation and Audit Unit which monitors the assistance provided.

The results of the work of Irish Aid and other partners are clear on the ground. The incidence of extreme poverty is dropping in a number of Programme Countries. Economic growth in Africa is the highest in a generation. More children are at school than ever before. The context remains challenging, but progress is being made, and Ireland is playing its part.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 159: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of countries scheduled for debt write-off in the past five years; the extent to which this has been delivered or is outstanding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34372/08]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Government has strongly supported initiatives to ease or cancel the debt burden on developing countries. Importantly, Ireland's bilateral assistance to the developing world is exclusively in the form of grants rather than loans.

There are two main international instruments which address the problem of the debt burden in the developing world, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The MDRI was agreed by the G8 Countries at Gleneagles in July 2005 with a focus on debt cancellation. It came into effect on 1 July 2006, and provides for 100% relief on eligible debt from the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund for many of the poorest countries in the world, most of them in Africa. The aim is to relieve these countries from the burden of servicing debt and assist them in making progress on the UN Millennium Development Goals, with the overall objective of halving global poverty by 2015. In 2007, the Inter-American Development Bank agreed to provide similar debt relief to the five poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

To date, 25 countries have benefited from debt relief under the MDRI, at a cost of some $43.5 billion. Ireland's share of the total cost of debt relief provided by the World Bank under the MDRI is €58.64 million. The Government contributed this amount in full in 2006.

The HIPC Initiative is implemented by the World Bank and the IMF. It was launched in 1996 in order to reduce the debt burden of qualifying countries to sustainable levels but does not involve cancellation of debt. Progress on the implementation of the initiative has been relatively slow. However, t o date US$68 billion in debt-service relief has been approved under the initiative for 33 countries, 27 of which are in Africa. Ireland has contributed €20 million towards the cost of implementing this initiative.