Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As Deputies will be aware, in October 2012, the Tánaiste and I suspended over €16 million of development assistance which was due to be channelled through Government of Uganda systems, following the discovery of fraud in the Office of the Prime Minister. The Government of Uganda has since refunded in full the €4 million of Irish Aid funds which were misappropriated.

Ireland continues to press the Government of Uganda for concerted action following the fraud. To date, 26 Government officials and 31 private firms are being investigated, 6 Government officials are facing trial and 1 conviction has already been secured. In total, the Ugandan Director of Public Prosecutions has opened over 100 case files which are being followed closely by our Embassy of in Kampala. I am happy to report that the Anti-Corruption Court in Uganda is now up and running again following its temporary suspension on foot of a constitutional petition on its legality last year, which delayed many of the cases. In addition, the Office of the Auditor General of Uganda has been conducting follow-on inquiries and audits, with the support of our Embassy in Kampala. While I was in Kampala in December I had a very positive meeting with the Auditor General and his key staff and he outlined clearly his determination to address issues of fraud and corruption in the public domain. I also invited him to Ireland to address relevant Oireachtas Committees.

Ireland’s 2014 country programme in Uganda, which focuses on education, HIV and AIDS, gender-based violence, governance and livelihoods, is built around supporting projects and programmes which operate through trusted non government systems. In addition, we are continuing to provide direct support to the Office of the Auditor General which uncovered the original fraud at the Office of the Prime Minister. I am also pleased to note that a group of Ugandan MPs are currently visiting Ireland in order to learn from our experiences of developing and implementing anti-corruption legislation, with a view to introducing similar legislation in Uganda.

The Evaluation and Audit Unit of the Department has increased the level of support and oversight that is being provided to the Uganda programme. An update on the interim report from the Evaluation and Audit Unit on the misappropriation of funds (drafted in November 2012) will be completed shortly, along with a review of programme and risk management systems, as well as financial controls. These reviews are being carried out in all Irish Aid key partner countries. We continue to ensure strong financial oversight of the aid programme is in place in order that the valuable contribution made by Ireland towards improving the lives of some of the most vulnerable people is maintained, while at the same time providing strong assurance and accountability to the Irish taxpayer.

Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for 2013 was €622m, of which €497m was managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under Vote 27 International Co-operation , with the remainder comprising eligible funding by other Government Departments as well as Ireland’s share of the EU Development Cooperation budget.

Ireland has long term, strategic development partnership programmes with a small number of developing countries, called Key Partner Countries. These are Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Vietnam. 2013 allocations to Partners countries are provided as follows:

2013 Budget Allocations to Partners Countries	€ millions
Ethiopia	27.20
Lesotho	1.08
Zambia	14.21
Malawi	13.70
Mozambique	37.50
Tanzania	28.40
Uganda	12.40
Vietnam	12.50
Total	146.99

In addition Irish Aid provides significant levels of funding to other developing countries, through our bilateral aid programme, delivered on the ground by NGOs, missionary and international organisations and UN agencies. For 2013 we expect to have provided assistance to in excess of eighty developing countries. The detailed statistical analysis of programme expenditure for 2013 is currently being compiled and will be published in the annexes to the Irish Aid annual report on our website: www.irishaid.ie.