Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 758: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his plans to increase Ireland's policy coherence for development following the critical remarks about Ireland's level of policy coherence for development in the recent OECD-DAC review of Ireland; his further plans to address this issue by increasing the regularity of meetings of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Development which he chairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33730/09]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The report of the review of Ireland's aid programme by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD was published in May. It provided a strong, independent endorsement of the programme and of the Government's development policies. The OECD praised Ireland's focus on the fight against global poverty and hunger, and the strong focus of the aid programme on the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It described Ireland as a champion in making aid more effective.

The OECD also noted the Government's commitment to an integrated policy approach to development across Departments, in line with the broad political consensus in Ireland that the fight against poverty is not merely a matter of providing overseas development assistance. It welcomed the establishment of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Development and recommended that it address inconsistencies and potential policy conflicts among key Government Departments.

The Government established the Inter-Departmental Committee on Development in April 2007, with the objective of strengthening coherence in our 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 Departments, and that it has intensified the work of ensuring that a strong development perspective is integrated into Government decision-making in all relevant areas.

At the ninth meeting of the Committee, in July, we reviewed the findings and recommendations of the OECD peer review. I also welcomed the publication of a scoping report commissioned by Irish Aid which makes a series of recommendations, across Departments, on possible areas in which the coherence of development policy might be improved. This report, and the statements being prepared by a number of Departments on their contribution to the improvement of policy coherence on development issues, will be further considered at the next meeting of the Inter-Departmental Committee later this month. As Chair of the Committee, I am committed to ensuring that Government Departments work together more closely so that the full range of our policies in areas including trade, the environment and agriculture support the long term objective of eradicating poverty and hunger among the world's poorest people.