Written answers

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Department of Finance

World Bank Policy

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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221. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will outline Ireland's operational relationship with the World Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29896/14]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Detailed information on Ireland's relationship with the World Bank is contained in the Annual Report for 2013 entitled "Ireland's Participation in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank" which is prepared by my Department in accordance with Section 10 of the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Act 1999 and which I presented to Dáil Éireann earlier this year.   The report is available at

Ireland has been a member of the World Bank since 1957 and is part of a constituency with Canada and a number of Caribbean countries.    As the Minister for Finance is the Governor for Ireland at the World Bank, my Department has the lead role in relation to Ireland's engagement with the Bank, in particular in relation to governance and shareholder interests.

In 2013, the Governors of the World Bank approved the adoption of two strategic goals for the World Bank Group: (i) to end extreme poverty to reduce the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day to 3 per cent by 2030 and (ii) to promote shared prosperity to foster income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population.     Ireland strongly supports these goals.

Ireland is represented at the Executive Board by Mr Alister Smith, an Executive Director appointed by Canada.     There are two Irish representatives on secondment from my Department to the World Bank who work full-time in the constituency office, Mr Eamonn Kearns and Mr Niall Cassidy.     They make an important contribution to the work of the Bank and in communicating Ireland's position on a wide spectrum of policy issues.    The advisors work closely with the Department, with Irish Aid and Enterprise Ireland as well as other Government Departments and agencies, as appropriate, to promote Irish interests in the wider context of their contribution to the work of the World Bank.

Ireland's policy document, "One World, One Future" sets out a whole-of-Government approach to international development.   Irish Aid have a close working relationship with the World Bank and support Ireland's constituency through policy advice and guidance on development related issues, while also liaising with my Department.  The Department of Finance also works alongside Enterprise Ireland in relation to the promotion of enterprise interests at the World Bank.

Ireland has consistently supported the work of the International Development Association (IDA) and contributed €29 million in 2013 to IDA, the concessional lending arm of the World Bank which focuses on the world's poorest countries, and isrecognised internationally for its contribution to the fight against global poverty and hunger and its contribution to making international aid more effective.    In addition, Irish Aid supports the World Bank's development activities by providing funds to a variety of trust funds.    Irish Aid funding to the World Bank in 2013 was almost €40 million, much of which was for specific programmes such as the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Global Partnership for Education and activities in Ethiopia such as the Productive Safety Nets and Basic Services programmes.     

Ireland has recently broadened its engagement with the World Bank on the Doing Business Report, the Bank's flagship publication which assesses regulations affecting domestic firms and the ease of doing business in 189 economies.  My Department has a central role in coordinating Ireland's response to the Doing Business Report in the context in particular of the priority accorded to improving Ireland's business and regulatory environment and international competitiveness.

Further information regarding the activities of the World Bank is contained on its website .

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