Written answers
Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Overseas Development Aid Expenditure
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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664. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the funding allocated by his Department to overseas development aid as a percentage of gross national income from 1997 to 2014, inclusive; the total funding allocated in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14948/15]
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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665. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if it is still Government policy to allocate 0.7% of gross national income to overseas development aid; the timeframe he as set in the context of achieving this target; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14949/15]
Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 664 and 665 together.
Approximately 80% of Ireland’s total Official Development Assistance (ODA) is in respect of funding allocated to my Department and managed under Vote 27 – International Co-operation. The remainder comprises ODA-eligible contributions made by other Government Departments and Ireland’s share of the EU Development Co-operation Budget.
A summary of the ODA managed by my Department, total ODA and the ODA/GNP percentage for the years 1997 to 2014 is included in the table below. All ODA figures are in Euro millions.ODA VOLUMES AND ODA/GNP % 1997-2014
Figures in € millions
| Year | Vote 27 - International Cooperation | Total ODA | ODA as a % of GNP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 474.10 | 607.40 | 0.38% |
| 2013 | 496.70 | 637.09 | 0.46% |
| 2012 | 507.38 | 628.90 | 0.47% |
| 2011 | 520.18 | 657.04 | 0.50% |
| 2010 | 521.55 | 675.83 | 0.51% |
| 2009 | 571.84 | 722.20 | 0.54% |
| 2008 | 768.74 | 920.66 | 0.59% |
| 2007 | 725.75 | 870.87 | 0.53% |
| 2006 | 595.41 | 813.96 | 0.53% |
| 2005 | 465.46 | 578.46 | 0.43% |
| 2004 | 395.62 | 488.92 | 0.39% |
| 2003 | 371.66 | 445.71 | 0.40% |
| 2002 | 342.87 | 422.06 | 0.41% |
| 2001 | 235.59 | 319.90 | 0.33% |
| 2000 | 169.93 | 254.86 | 0.30% |
| 1999 | 144.40 | 230.64 | 0.31% |
| 1998 | 126.37 | 177.26 | 0.30% |
| 1997 | 114.12 | 157.63 | 0.31% |
The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s development aid programme, which is at the heart of our foreign policy. Our aim, since coming to office, has been to protect the aid budget to the greatest extent possible. In view of the very difficult economic circumstances, this has been a significant achievement. I believe it is also a major achievement to again provide over €600 million for ODA in 2015.
‘One world One Future’, our policy for International Development, reaffirms our commitment to the UN target of spending 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) on ODA. As our economic recovery continues to consolidate and strengthen, the challenge now is to determine how best we can make sustainable progress towards the UN target, as we continue to build on Ireland’s world-class aid programme by ensuring we make an effective contribution to the fight to end extreme poverty and hunger.
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