Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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129. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the estimated ODA/GNI target in view of budget 2019 and the increased allocation to overseas development aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42250/18]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s international development assistance programme and to its place at the heart of foreign policy. For 2019, the Government has allocated almost €817 million for Official Development Assistance, ODA. This level of allocation represents an increase of approximately €110 million – or 16% on the revised 2018 budget allocation.

The total amount of ODA which Ireland will invest during 2019 is now the highest since the financial crisis, a mark of the restoration of the economy. 2019 is the fifth consecutive year the Government has increased allocations to ODA. By comparison, in 2015 the ODA allocation amounted to just under €650 million.

In his budget speech, the Minister for Finance said that "at 0.31 per cent of GNI*, this level of assistance represents a clear statement that this Government and the Irish people will not be found wanting in addressing some of the major humanitarian crises and development challenges our planet faces". The ODA/GNI* % depends on the allocation to total ODA and forecasted GNI*. Despite the increase in ODA allocation over the last few years, the strong performance of the Irish economy and the resulting growth in GNI levels can have a significant dampening effect on the ODA/GNI %.