Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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454. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 138 of 1 October 2014, if he will report on progress, on reaching the target of 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product on overseas aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10353/15]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 454 and 460 together.

The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s overseas aid programme, which is at the heart of our foreign policy. Our policy on International Development, “One World, One Future”, reaffirms our commitment to achieving the UN target of providing 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) for Official Development Assistance (ODA), when economic circumstances permit.

Our aim since 2011 has been to protect, as far as possible, allocations to for the aid programme. Despite the very difficult economic circumstances we faced over this period, the Government has successfully managed to stabilise allocations to the programme. The OECD Development Assistance Committee’s peer review of Ireland, published last December, clearly recognises and commends our efforts to protect and stabilise the allocation for the aid programme, and describes as “exemplary” Ireland‘s approach in managing the aid budget during the economic crisis. The most recent statistics published by the OECD, for 2013, place Ireland’s ODA at 0.46% of GNP.

For 2015, we have again protected the overall allocations to the aid programme, and have provided a total of just over €600 million for ODA. Significantly, this represents a small increase on the 2014 level. As our economic recovery consolidates and strengthens, I am determined to set out the strongest possible case for building further on our current commitment to the aid programme.

Our priority now is to ensure we continue to focus on tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice, strengthening our key partner countries ability to deliver essential services to their citizens, and delivering real and sustainable improvements to the lives of some of the world’s poorest people and communities.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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455. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the Government's position on, and aims for, the United Nation's third International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July 2015; if he will report on the preparations being made by his Department in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10354/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The third international Conference on Financing for Development will be held in Addis Ababa in July, with the objective of agreeing the financing framework for the post-2015 agenda on sustainable development, which will replace the framework provided by the Millennium Development Goals.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed by the international community in 2000, in order to provide focus in the fight against poverty, up to 2015. A new UN-led framework is now being negotiated to guide global efforts on international development to 2030. Ireland is co-facilitating these negotiations at the UN, with Kenya. At the heart of the new development framework will be a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to complete the work under the MDGs and tackle new and emerging global challenges. The SDGs will aim at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2030 and achieving sustainable development at a global level by addressing challenges in areas such as energy, food, water and sanitation, climate, consumption, employment and economic growth, urbanisation and governance. The aim is that the new Goals will be universal in nature and address development challenges through social, environmental and economic actions in all countries, be they low, middle or high-income countries.

The Addis Conference will seek to identify and unlock all available financing sources to implement the new SDGs. This will include aid, but will also have to broaden the agenda significantly beyond development assistance. Its aim is to establish a durable and sustainable financial framework that will provide long-term support for the SDGs.

The Conference, while acknowledging the importance of Official Development Aid (ODA) in contributing to sustainable development, will aim for a more ambitious and innovative approach. It will be universal in scope, allowing a move away from the traditional North-South model of development cooperation, and will recognise and encourage the role Middle Income Countries can play in contributing to sustainable development. The Conference will also examine ways of mobilising domestic tax revenues, a rapidly-growing source of stable development finance, and identify ways of creating an enabling environment to support private sector growth, both domestic and international, in an inclusive and sustainable way. The potential for ODA to act as a catalytic agent for other innovative finance and investment will also be explored. Ultimately, this transformative agenda aims to form a global partnership to eradicate poverty and support sustainable development.

My Department has established an inter-departmental coordination mechanism comprising all relevant Government Departments to ensure a comprehensive Irish position for the Conference, and for the broader post-2015 development negotiations. We are engaging with a wide range of interested parties, including civil society, and we are working with our EU partners to agree a common EU position on the range of issues to be addressed at the Finance for Development Conference.

Our objective is to contribute to a broad, ambitious and inclusive outcome in Addis that will ensure the success of the post-2015 negotiations at the United Nations and the effectiveness of the new Sustainable Development Goals.