Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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6. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of Ireland’s GNI allocated to official development aid in 2024. [36483/25]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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7. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide a breakdown of Ireland’s official development aid spending in 2024, between bilateral and multilateral channels, including funding to international organisations such as the UN, EU and the World Bank. [36484/25]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 7 together.

Ireland's international development programme focusses on providing support for countries and communities most seriously in need. The Government's policy for international development, 'A Better World,' provides the framework, with the objective of reaching the furthest behind first and addressing the needs of those living in some of the world’s poorest or most climate-exposed countries and those living in areas affected by conflict.

Preliminary figures for 2024 place Ireland’s total Official Development Assistance (ODA) at over €2.2 billion, which represents a total of 0.57% ODA % GNP. With ODA eligible supports for refugees from Ukraine excluded, the preliminary figure for ODA % GNP is 0.41%. This is an increase from 0.38% in 2023.

It is important to note that ODA eligible refugee costs are reported as ODA retrospectively, and funding was not taken from the ODA allocations for the Irish Aid programme managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for 2022, 2023 or 2024. This will remain the case in 2025.

The latest year for which full statistical detail of our ODA is available is 2023. Out of Ireland’s €2.6 billion in Official Development Assistance in 2023, €1.97 billion was provided as bilateral assistance, or €838 million with supports for refugees from Ukraine excluded. €629 million was provided as core support to multilateral organisations.

Total funding of €368 million was provided to and through the European Union, €306 million to and through the United Nations, and €71.8 million to and through the World Bank.

Every year, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade publishes an Annual Report on Ireland's ODA, which provides detailed breakdowns of the distribution of aid, including the amounts given to developing countries around the world, and the amounts allocated for different thematic priorities and to different partners. I expect that the Annual Report for 2024 will be published in September 2025.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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8. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of Ireland’s official development aid in 2024 allocated to climate adaption and mitigation programmes in low-income countries; and whether this is additional to the existing aid budget, as per international commitments. [36485/25]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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International climate finance is an important priority for the Government. The Government has made significant progress in scaling up Ireland's international climate finance in recent years. Ireland’s International Climate Finance Roadmap sets out how we will deliver on the target of providing at least €225 million annually in climate finance by 2025. This target constitutes a more than doubling of Ireland's climate finance since it was made by the Taoiseach at COP 26. We are on track to meet this target this year, due to increases in climate finance provided in Budgets in recent years.

In 2023, Ireland provided €159.2 million in climate finance. Some 66%, of Ireland's total climate finance was channelled to programmes and projects that targeted resilience and adaptation to climate change. Cross-cutting activities, those which target both climate change adaptation and mitigation, received 20% of overall financial support. Mitigation focused activities received the remainder of support, approximately 14%.

In 2024, we estimate that Ireland provided in the region of €190 million in climate finance, again heavily weighted towards adaptation. A finalised figure for 2024 will be published following verification of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) data by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) which is expected later this year.

All of Ireland's climate finance constitutes ODA, as defined by the OECD DAC. As such, Ireland’s climate finance is not separate to ODA.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of Ireland’s official development aid in 2024 allocated to global health initiatives, sexual and reproductive health, and gender equality programmes, per region, in tabular form. [36486/25]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Development co-operation is integral to Ireland’s foreign policy. The priorities for Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) are set out in 'A Better World', the whole of government policy for international development. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is a key area of focus, and the policy recognises that universal access to health care, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care is fundamental to transforming women's health outcomes and to realising sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Ireland is ranked by the OECD as among the member countries with the highest share of ODA with gender equality objectives. We fund interventions directly dedicated to supporting women’s political and economic empowerment; prioritising girls’ access to quality education, addressing gender based violence, and improving women and girls’ access to health, including sexual and reproductive health.

In 2023, Ireland’s bilateral support for gender equality amounted to a total of €61.8 million for principally targeted activities, and €323 million for activities with a significant focus on gender equality.

'A Better World' commits to strengthening Ireland’s interventions in global health, with the objective of reaching the furthest behind first. Health interventions have a particular focus on women and girls, including in humanitarian settings, and on the inclusion of marginalised socio-economic groups such as people at risk of or living with HIV, and, persons living with disabilities.

Global Health Initiatives, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and Gavi, the vaccine alliance, represent key partners for Ireland in the effort to achieve SDG 3, better health and well-being for all. In 2023 Ireland invested €25 million in Global Health Initiatives. This was increased to €25.5 million in 2024.

In regard to sexual and reproductive health care, our main focus is on the prevention of sexual and gender based violence; enhanced maternal and new-born health; the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS; and reducing unmet need for contraception amongst adolescent and young women, including those in humanitarian crises. In 2023, the most recent year for which detailed breakdowns are available, we targeted €29.9 million on sexual and reproductive health. €10.5 million of this funding was provided to the Global Fund Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.