Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 18: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the assessment of a person (details supplied) that cuts in Irish overseas aid spending were proportionately more severe than in any other country; if he will make an explicit recommitment that Ireland will reach its target of 0.6% by 2010 and 0.7% by 2012 including a timetable for the reinstatement and increase of funding. [21707/09]

Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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Question 20: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he plans to meet the Government's stated target of spending 0.6% of GNP on the overseas aid budget in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21796/09]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on whether he will achieve his commitment to 0.7%, its UN target, by 2012. [21842/09]

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the Irish Aid programme; the cuts which have been made to the programme on foot of budgetary cutbacks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21821/09]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will introduce legislation to make sure that Ireland honours its promise to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid; and if so, when he will do so. [21706/09]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the implications of the decision to cut overseas aid spending by €45 million in July 2008 by €15 million in October 2008, by €95 million in February 2009 and by an additional €100 million in the supplementary Budget of 7 April 2009 for the world's poorest; and his views on the assessment of a group (details supplied) that Ireland will miss its own overseas aid target of 0.6% by 2010. [21708/09]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 62: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the percentage of GNP that will be devoted to overseas development aid for the year 2009; the projected percentage by the end of 2010, 2011 and 2012; and when the 0.7% level, to which Ireland has agreed on several different occasions, will be reached. [21824/09]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 18, 20, 24, 28, 46, 57 and 62 together.

The total Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for 2009 will be €696 million. €571 million will be administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs, through Irish Aid, with the balance of €125 million being contributions to development co-operation by other Government Departments and through Ireland's allocation to the EU Development Cooperation Budget.

On current projections, this level of funding will represent approximately 0.48% of estimated 2009 Gross National Product (GNP), and should maintain Ireland's position as one of the world's most generous donors on a per capita basis. This remains an enormous achievement, particularly so in the current economic circumstances and one that we should all be pleased to acknowledge.

As the Deputy is aware, the Government has had to make the regrettable but necessary decision to reduce the 2009 development assistance programme by €195 million. This decision was taken solely in the context of the economic situation facing the country. The reduction is one of a series of measures designed to restore the public finances and establish a solid platform for renewed economic growth.

While the cut in the ODA allocation for 2009 is significant, it follows a period of unprecedented growth in ODA volumes. In 1999, for instance, total ODA was just over €230 million. The allocation of €696 million for 2009 represents a trebling in the volume of ODA delivered over the last 10 years. This is an achievement of which all Irish people should be proud.

Nonetheless, both the Government and I are acutely aware that those cuts will have implications for our aid programme - a programme which is renowned internationally for its clear focus on poverty reduction and hunger alleviation, and for its concentration on the least developed countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. I am determined that we will maintain this focus and that we will continue to work closely with our partners in pursuit of our shared goals of reducing poverty in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

We also recognise that the decision to reduce the ODA budget for 2009 will make it somewhat more difficult to achieve the target of spending 0.7% of GNP on ODA by 2012. However, we will continue to work towards meeting this goal and a full assessment of our capacity to achieve the target will be made in the context of preparing the 2010 Budget.

I think it is also important not to lose sight of Ireland's tremendous progress towards reaching this UN target. At the start of this decade, Ireland contributed 0.3% of GNP to ODA. Last year we contributed 0.58% - almost doubling our GNP percentage expenditure in the intervening period. This level of spending has made us the sixth most generous donor in the world on a per capita basis and well ahead of most of our EU partners in efforts to achieve the EU target of 0.7% of GNP by 2015. Notwithstanding the reduction in the 2009 allocation, Ireland should, in all likelihood, maintain this ranking within the OECD donor countries.

Our aid programme has just been reviewed by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). The OECD DAC is the pre-eminent international body in relation to benchmarking donors such as Ireland against aid quality. This key report, published this month, states that "Ireland is a champion in making aid more effective" and that "Irish Aid is a strong cutting edge development programme". These are the views of an independent, objective and critical international aid organisation from which we can draw pride. The Government will be working to ensure that these high standards are maintained.

Our aid programme remains one of the best in the world. It reflects our core values and commitments to supporting the poorest people in the world. The decisions that we have taken regarding adjustments to the aid programme were framed in the context of this commitment and our determination that, once the Irish economy has returned to a pattern of sustainable growth, we will resume the expansion of our aid programme.