Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 50: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of recommendations of the Hunger Task Force which have been implemented to date in 2009. [31762/09]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister of State for Overseas Development, I have been leading the implementation of the recommendations of the Hunger Task Force, which have been accepted by the Government. Earlier this year, I gave a commitment that hunger eradication would be a cornerstone of the Irish Aid programme and a key component of Ireland's foreign policy. This is in line with a key recommendation of the Task Force.

Within Irish Aid, I have established a Hunger Unit. This Unit is working to integrate and support hunger and food security interventions across our development programme. For example, the Unit is working closely with our Embassy in Malawi where Irish Aid's programme there is being shaped by the Hunger Task Force report.

In Uganda, we have a new focus on the most food-insecure populations of the country. In our other Programme Countries, we are developing strategies to continue and deepen the fight against hunger. We are also supporting world class pro-poor agricultural research, much of it based in Africa, to encourage the development of new and improved seed varieties and resilient food systems.

I have accepted the recommendation that Ireland's engagement with hunger across the entire range of the ODA programmes and projects will reach 20 percent of our aid programme by 2012. We are working to reach this target. In addition to these activities I have established a specific budget line to support the implementation of the Hunger Task Force recommendations at a global level.

At the inter-departmental level I have established the Hunger Task Team, which includes participation from my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of Finance, to look at all of our international activities though a hunger lens.

Ireland is positioned as a global advocate for the hungry poor and I have been very active in promoting this global advocacy role, a recommendation of the Hunger Task Force. I have had discussions with partner governments in the UK, Spain and the United States to identify opportunities for us to work together to make us more effective in addressing hunger and food insecurity.

We are playing an active role in global fora where strategies to strengthen the international response to hunger are being developed and Ireland has been a lead funder of the United Nations High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis. We will continue to work with our global partners to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal.

In January a Special Envoy for Hunger, Mr. Kevin Farrell, formerly of the World Food Programme, was appointed in line with the recommendation of the Hunger Task Force. Since taking up his duties, the Special Envoy has been active in national and international fora. The Envoy is working closely with officials in the field and at HQ to determine how best to enhance even further our work on food security.

It is simply unacceptable that over a billion people are hungry in the world in this century. This is the reason that we established the Hunger Task Force in 2006, before the current food crisis hit the headlines. I am confident that we are making good progress following the completion of the work of the Hunger Task Force. I can assure Deputies that Ireland will continue to advocate internationally for the hungry poor, and to make a real difference on the ground.