Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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39. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of the significant EU annual development aid budget if he is satisfied that enough is being done to ensure aid effectiveness; his view on whether the militarisation of EU foreign policy does not undermine or jeopardise that budget; and if he will pursue these matters at EU level. [2540/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I would like to assure the Deputy that the overarching goal of the European Union’s development policy remains the eradication of poverty in a sustainable manner, within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Negotiations are currently under way on a new framework to succeed the MDGs beyond 2015 and Ireland is playing a significant role in this process, having been appointed as co-facilitator of the intergovernmental negotiations taking place at the United Nations. When they are agreed later this year, these new Sustainable Development Goals will provide the framework for the development policy of the EU and all of its Member States, including Ireland.

As the Deputy has pointed out, the EU’s annual aid budget is significant; in fact, the EU and its member states are collectively the largest provider of development assistance in the world, providing over half of global ODA. Since 2011, the basic principles of the EU’s approach to development assistance have been reaffirmed in the Agenda for Change, a challenging agenda which focuses specifically on aid effectiveness.

The main instrument through which the EU delivers aid to the world’s poorest countries is the European Development Fund (EDF). Over the 7-year period from 2014 to 2010, over €30 billion in development assistance provided by the Member States on an assessed basis will be channelled through the EDF to the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific regions, with over 92% of country allocations going to Africa and over 85% to Least Developed and Low Income Countries. The new EDF cycle is even more focused on those countries most in need than the previous cycle, which ran from 2007 to 2013. The EDF focus on the poorest countries is in line with the Ireland’s international cooperation strategy, One World One Future which was launched in May 2013.

The EDF is subject to various forms of rigorous monitoring and evaluation by a number of different and separate bodies: the European Court of Auditors; the EU’s Results-Oriented Monitoring; the EU’s Evaluation Unit; the European Parliament; and Donors including Ireland. Ireland actively engages with other EU Member States on the EDF Management Committee. EDF programming that affects our bilateral development partners is further scrutinized by our Embassies in partner countries.

I can assure the Deputy that Ireland, our fellow Member States and the EU are fully committed to working together to ensure that the aid we provide, both bilaterally and through the EU’s development instruments, has a real impact. An overriding priority, and one which informed our participation in Mexico at the inaugural meeting in June 2014 of the High Level meeting for the Global Partnership for effective Development Cooperation, is to renew momentum on strengthening aid effectiveness at country level. This is critical to ensuring that the environment in which Irish Aid and EU programmes are delivered is conducive to maximising their developmental impact.

The European Security Strategy and the EU Consensus on Development acknowledge that there cannot be sustainable development without security, nor can there be sustainable peace without development.