Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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192. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with reference to the global island policy framework, his plans on reaching the United Nations target of providing 0.7% of gross national product for development assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15277/15]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s overseas aid programme, and to its place at the very heart of our foreign policy. This is clearly articulated in 'The Global Island- Ireland’s Foreign Policy for a Changing World' which was launched in January by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. In our policy on International Development, 'One World, One Future', we have clearly reaffirmed our commitment to the UN target of providing 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) for Official Development Assistance (ODA), and to making further progress towards it when economic circumstances permit. In the face of severe economic difficulty, our aim has been to protect allocations to the aid programme, in so far as this has been possible. The Government has successfully managed to stabilise allocations to the programme. This is a major achievement, in extremely difficult circumstances. For 2015, we have again protected overall allocations to the aid programme, and provided a total of just over €600 million for 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. I will be making the strongest possible case for an increase in the budget for the aid programme in 2016.