Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 122: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will support the five objectives of a campaign (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42424/09]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has played an important role internationally on the issue of alleviation of the debt burden on developing countries. The Government's policy strategy was prepared jointly by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Finance, and was launched in 2002. It supports the total cancellation of the debts of the world's poorest countries. A joint review of the strategy is currently being undertaken by the two Departments and I expect it will be completed within the coming months.

Ireland's bilateral assistance to the developing world has always been exclusively in the form of grants rather than loans. The Government has also provided very significant resources for initiatives to ease or cancel the debt burden. There are two main international instruments which address the problem of the debt burden, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The MDRI came into effect on 1 July 2006, and provides for cancellation of eligible debt from the World Bank, the African Development bank and the International Monetary Fund for many of the world's poorest and most indebted countries. Ireland's share of the total cost of debt relief provided by the World Bank under MDRI is €58.64 million. The Government contributed this amount in full in 2006. Ireland has also contributed over €20 million to the HIPC initiative, which is implemented by the World Bank and the IMF, with the objective of reducing the debt burden of qualifying countries to sustainable levels.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is working closely with the Department of Finance on the details of an updated debt policy strategy, taking account of developments since 2002, and of the views of interested parties. These include the organisation referred to by the Deputy, which has made a detailed submission to both Departments.