Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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871. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason the interdepartmental committee on development has not met since the publication of One World, One Future: Ireland's Policy for International Development; and when it is expected to meet. [37340/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN Summit at the end of September are central to the new global development agenda, Agenda 2030, for the next fifteen years. Unlike the Millennium Development goals, they are universally applicable, and all countries are required to take action to implement them, domestically and internationally.

The Inter-Departmental Committee on Development (IDCD) met shortly after the publication of One World One Future. It was clear that Agenda 2030 would provide the context for Ireland's whole-of-government approach to development and this would necessitate a whole-of-government approach to the UN negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda.

Throughout the UN negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, which culminated with the Summit in New York, Ireland's approach and positions were agreed through a whole-of-Government coordination process involving all relevant Government Departments. My Department, together with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government co-chaired a dedicated inter-departmental coordination mechanism comprising all relevant Government Departments, to ensure a comprehensive Irish position. This inter-departmental committee met six times including with civil society representatives.

With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by world leaders, we will now focus on developing the most appropriate institutional framework to deliver the new development agenda domestically and internationally. I have asked officials to review the structure and working of the IDCD to ensure it can deliver effectively on our commitment to policy coherence for development, on the basis that the new development agenda, 'Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development', requires action across Government.