Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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68. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is committed to spending 70 cent in every €100 on overseas aid by 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29513/13]

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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69. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is still committed to Ireland meeting the commitment to spend 0.7% of our GDP on foreign aid by 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29569/13]

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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74. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland will achieve its commitment to spend just 70 cent in every €100 on overseas aid by 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29697/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 68, 69 and 74 together.

The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s overseas aid programme. Our new Policy on International Development, “One World, One Future”, clearly sets out our vision for a sustainable and just world, and our goals and areas of focus for the coming years. It reaffirms the Government’s commitment to international development and its centrality to our foreign policy.

The new policy restates the commitment in the Programme for Government to achieving the UN target of providing 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) for Official Development Assistance (ODA). Over the past two years, the Government has broadly stabilised the budget for development assistance. This is a significant achievement in the context of the very difficult economic conditions facing the country. We have allocated a total of €622 million for ODA for 2013. We will continue to work to maintain aid expenditure broadly at current levels until economic circumstances permit us to make further progress towards achieving the 0.7% target.