Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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595. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action he is taking to ensure that development assistance is reaching the most vulnerable Ethiopians, regardless of their political affiliation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13447/17]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Ethiopia has been a key partner country for Ireland’s development assistance since 1994. Our assistance has at all times been focused on the most vulnerable people and communities in the country, regardless of their political views or affiliation. Last year, we provided some €29 million in long term development assistance in Ethiopia and a further €6.65 million in humanitarian assistance.

In designing and implementing Ireland’s development assistance, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and our Embassy in Addis Ababa work in close consultation with Government and local authorities in Ethiopia and with local communities and civil society.

A central element of Ireland’s assistance is the Productive Safety Net Programme, which provides food and cash transfers to vulnerable people, on the basis of objective criteria, developed to ensure that those suffering from chronic hunger are reached. It is closely monitored to ensure that it reaches those most in need and is not subject to political interference.

Our programme aims to build the resilience of Ethiopia’s poorest households, including through access to drought-tolerant, high-yielding seeds for small holder farmers and working to ensure that women and children have improved nutrition. We work closely with civil society organisations to promote education for minority groups, tackle violence against women and girls. As part of its work with civil society, Ireland is encouraging organisations and support vulnerable citizens, including people with disabilities to argue for and access quality services.

Ethiopia suffers from cyclical droughts and chronic food insecurity. The Government of Ethiopia has developed an impressive capacity to respond to climatic events, but still, last year, some 10.2 million people required and received emergency food assistance. In addition to these challenges, Ethiopia is hosting one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, with almost 800,000 refugees in need of annual humanitarian assistance.

In addition to our financial assistance, since the onset of the El Nino climate effect, in 2015, six members of the Irish Aid Rapid Response Corps have been deployed to Ethiopia to work with UN response operations. Three of these responders were deployed in recent weeks. We have also airlifted 30 tonnes of emergency relief supplies for distribution to those most in need. We are keeping the situation under close review and I expect that it will be necessary to provide further humanitarian support to Ethiopia in the coming period.