Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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343. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of foreign aid provided in 2020, by country. [22987/21]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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344. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of foreign aid provided by country in each of the years 2000 to 2020. [22988/21]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 343 and 344 together.

My Department publishes a report on Ireland's Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme, known as Irish Aid, each year. The report includes statistical information on programme expenditure in a series of annexes which clearly show the distribution of aid, including the amounts given to developing countries, and the amounts allocated to our priority focus areas as set out in A Better World, Ireland’s international development policy. The Annual Report serves as a core accountability and transparency tool, providing a comprehensive overview of expenditure under the aid programme, and demonstrating the results that have been achieved. A breakdown of the top 30 countries in receipt of Ireland’s ODA for the years 2017-2019 has been included in the table below. Annual Reports for 2019 and previous years are available on the Irish Aid website.

With regard to figures for 2020, validation of data on Ireland’s ODA programme is done in arrears, and prior to publication, draft statistical returns are shared with the relevant OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) experts for assurance that Ireland's reported spending meets the DAC's criteria to be counted as ODA. This assurance is important to maintaining Ireland's reputation as a quality donor. Total figures and country level aggregates for 2020 are being finalised and will be published in the 2020 ODA Annual Report later this year. A copy of this Report will be made available to the Deputy following its publication.

Top 30 Recipient Countries of Ireland's Bilateral ODA in alphabetical order

*Please note figures for Iraq (2017, 2018), Jordan (2017, 2019), Lebanon (2017, 2018, 2019) and Turkey (2017, 2018, 2019) include support to the response to the Syria Crisis.