Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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152. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the funding provided by his Department or an agency under his auspices to a project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45089/18]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Government is strongly committed to delivering Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme effectively and efficiently, providing humanitarian assistance, and contributing to the fight against global poverty and hunger, both bilaterally, in partnership with other donors, with NGOs, and through working with multilateral partners such as the UN.In September 2000, world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit committed their nations to reducing extreme poverty and set targets with a deadline of 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs informed the strategic direction of Ireland’s development cooperation in the period to 2015. Global progress toward the eight MDG objectives was reported upon annually by the United Nations.

Among the many international responses to the challenge of meeting the MDGs was the project referred to in the question. This was a 10 year, multi-sector, rural development project, initiated in 2005, operating across ten sites in ten sub-Saharan African countries. Ireland did not directly fund this particular project through our development programme, as it was decided that Irish development assistance could achieve better outcomes by focusing on areas of Irish expertise.

In September 2015, Heads of State and Government of United Nations (UN) Member States, including Ireland, adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (“Transforming our Word”). The centrepiece of the Agenda is the Sustainable Development Goals, which replace the MDGs.