Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide details on his meeting with the UN Deputy Secretary General; and in view of the fact that there is now widespread agreement that most of the millennium development goals will not be achieved by the deadline of 2015, his policies on shaping a new international development agenda and in particular the efforts he is making at EU level to secure a greater commitment to supporting the world's poorest countries. [44817/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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When I met with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon in New York on 29 September, we had a good discussion on development issues and progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). I briefed the Secretary General on our planning for Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the European Union, which will include substantive discussion on the EU’s approach to the achievement of the MDGs and policy on the post-2015 framework for international development. My colleague, Minister of State Joe Costello T.D., met with UN Deputy General Secretary, Mr. Jan Eliasson, during his visit to the UN earlier in September and had a wide- ranging exchange of views on development issues, including progress on the MDGs.

The Millennium Development Goals were agreed by world leaders at the United Nations in 2000 as the framework for international development policy up to 2015. They provide a clearly measurable way to track progress in the fight against global poverty. The Goals are central to Ireland’s overseas development programme and to the Government’s development policy.

At a global level, the UN issues a report each year outlining progress in meeting the MDGs and identifying areas and regions which are lagging behind. The most recent report was issued in June 2012. Three of the MDGs have already been reached. These are the goals of halving the extreme poverty rate, halving the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water and significantly improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. In addition, considerable progress has been made in relation to education. Parity in primary school enrolment for boys and girls has been reached and overall school enrolment rates have increased significantly, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. There has been substantial progress in addressing HIV and AIDS , with the number of people in developing countries accessing retroviral therapy increasing from 5.1 million in 2009 to 6.5 million in 2010, the largest year on year increase ever recorded. However, the global targets on maternal health, access to sanitation and reducing hunger, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, remain well off track.

When the EU Development Ministers met in Luxembourg earlier this week, Ireland emphasised the importance of maintaining international efforts to achieve the MDG targets by 2015.

An MDG Special Event is scheduled to be held at the UN in New York in September 2013. It will be a crucial opportunity to review progress at senior intergovernmental level in advance of the 2015 target date. During our EU Presidency in the first half of 2013, Ireland will focus on preparation for these discussions. In addition to preparing for the Foreign Affairs Council (Development) in May, we will also host an informal meeting of EU Development Ministers in Dublin in February 2013 to ensure the strongest possible EU contribution for this September 2013 Special Event and to begin substantive discussion on the framework for global development after 2015.