Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will he raise the practice of tied aid, as practiced by many EU countries, during Ireland’s EU Presidency; the measures he will take to encourage other EU member states to abolish this practice which does not benefit the recipient country, and in fact imposes unnecessary costs on them. [1666/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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The practice of tying aid to the purchase of goods and services of the donor country has long been recognised as reducing the effectiveness and efficiency of development cooperation programmes. The untying of aid has been shown to improve the effectiveness of programmes aimed at reducing poverty and of better aligning donor assistance with the needs of beneficiary countries.

Ireland is one of a minority of donor countries whose aid is 100% untied. This is one of the principal reasons that Ireland’s aid programme is internationally recognised as being of the highest quality.

The Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, agreed in Busan, South Korea in 2011, set the international standard on the principles of effective aid and good development practice. It was signed by all multilateral and bilateral institutions providing international development assistance and commits them to accelerate global efforts to untie aid.

One of the key priorities of Ireland during its Presidency of the European Council is the agreement of a common EU position for the United Nations Review of the Millennium Development Goals, in September. Ensuring there is a sustained delivery of the commitments agreed by EU Member States in the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, which include accelerating efforts to untie aid, will constitute a key element of Ireland’s approach.