Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if procedures have been put in place to ensure that all international aid goes directly to those for whom it was intended thereby eliminating waste or corruption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31957/09]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's aid programme, administered by Irish Aid, is recognised internationally for its lead role in ensuring the effectiveness of development aid. The report of the peer review of the aid programme, which was published in April by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD, described Irish Aid as "a strong, cutting edge development cooperation programme" focused on delivering results. It stated that "Ireland is a champion in making aid more effective". In the face of global economic crisis, when aid budgets internationally are under pressure, we owe it to the people of the developing world to redouble our efforts to ensure that international development assistance is clearly focused on achieving results for the poorest people and communities in the world. Ireland will continue to play a strong international role in this regard.

Ireland's development aid programme provides assistance to over ninety developing countries. It has a particular focus on nine programme countries, where we have a commitment to long term strategic support. These are Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Malawi, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia. In our Programme Countries, development strategies are agreed in consultation with national Governments in support of their own poverty reduction strategies. These agreed strategies outline the areas where Irish Aid will provide support over a three to five year period. They contain monitoring frameworks with indicators and targets against which to measure improvements in basic services. The promotion of good governance is an essential element of all our country strategies. Irish Aid also works in cooperation with other international donors to strengthen public financial management systems and institutions of Government, such as the Auditor General function, in order to eliminate waste and corruption.

In addition, Irish Aid supports a number of initiatives at international level which are helping to improve governance. This includes assistance towards the work of the leading anti-corruption NGO, Transparency International, which is helping to fight corruption globally, and the Association of Western European Parliamentarians for Africa which is helping to build the oversight capacity of Parliaments in Eastern Africa.

The Government has put in place rigorous accounting and audit controls for Irish Aid, to ensure its programmes are regularly audited and evaluated by independent audit firms, by Irish Aid's own Evaluation and Audit Unit and by the independent Audit Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs. This is essential in order to ensure that funding is directed to those areas most in need, is used for the purposes intended and represents the best value for money. We will continue to deliver on our commitment that all aid funded by the taxpayer will benefit the poorest and most vulnerable in the countries with which Irish Aid is working.