Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 125: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of presentations and the topics covered at meetings of the interdepartmental committee on development. [1959/09]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's White Paper on Irish Aid, which was published in 2006, included a commitment to the establishment of an Inter-Departmental Committee on Development, to be chaired at Ministerial level. The Committee was launched in April 2007 with the objective of strengthening coherence in the Government's approach to development and making best use of the expertise and skills available across the public service. As the current Chair of the Committee, I am pleased that it has become the key forum for the sharing of knowledge and views on development issues across Government Departments. The Committee is working to ensure that a strong development perspective is integrated into Government decision-making in all relevant areas.

The Inter-Departmental Committee has so far met seven times and has held discussions on seven major presentations. These have covered the report and recommendations of the Government's Hunger Task Force; the impact of climate change on development; the views of Non-Governmental Organisations on improving policy coherence for development; Ireland's engagement with the Bretton Woods Institutions; and the Dutch experience in developing a more integrated approach to development issues. The Committee has also received two presentations from the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College Dublin on its Framework Research Project on policy coherence for development.

At each meeting, the Committee has received reports on developments at EU level and on the ongoing work on policy coherence for development within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Two Sub-Groups have been established, and report regularly to the Committee. The Sub-Group on Multilateral Organisations focuses on the development of a coherent inter-Departmental policy approach for Ireland's participation in international meetings on development, particularly at the United Nations. The Sub-Group on Skills Sets is examining how to make best use across Ireland's development programme of the range of skills and expertise available throughout the public service. The first Annual Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Development was presented to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in June 2008 and has been placed in the Oireachtas Library for the information of Members.