Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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26. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has identified the need to alter the priorities in Ireland’s aid programmes, in view of the emerging global crisis points; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40314/24]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Government shares the deep international concern at the range of emerging and existing global crises, whether they are climate related, caused by on-going conflict and insecurity, or by economic shocks.

With an overarching focus on those furthest behind, our international development policy, A Better World, prioritises reducing humanitarian need, climate action, gender equality and strengthening governance. In current circumstances, these priorities remain wholly relevant and will remain the key areas of focus.

In response to the unprecedented level of need, we provided over €300 million in humanitarian assistance in 2023, up 65% over five years. This includes funding for the top ten countries with the highest numbers of refugees. However, prevention is core to reducing humanitarian need over the longer term. This requires early and sustained engagement on humanitarian, development, peacebuilding and political issues. In 2024, Ireland increased our volume of multi-year and flexible funding, a key enabler of this type of programming.

Ireland has been a long-standing champion of international efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition. Unfortunately, the world continues to face increasing numbers of people experiencing food insecurity, with an estimated 2.3 billion people considered moderately or severely food insecure. In 2023, Ireland provided over €320 million for food, agriculture and nutrition programmes and we have committed to exceeding that in 2024. Ireland continues to support the initiative of the UN Secretary General to establish the UN Crisis Response Group, and the Team Europe response to global food insecurity.

The provision of climate finance to developing countries is critical in the fight against climate change. In response to the worsening climate crisis, Ireland has steadily increased our annual international climate-related expenditure and I am pleased that we will reach our target to provide at least €225 million target to developing countries by 2025. This represents a more than doubling of our climate finance since 2020.