Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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10. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the plans to increase funding for Irish Aid in order to compensate for the collapse of USAID-funded schemes abroad. [53250/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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12. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding Government support for Irish Aid; if this is under review in the international context of the United States of America cutting USAID; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53347/25]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 12 together.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to follow closely the consequences of the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and reductions in the amounts of Official Development Assistance (ODA) announced by some other donor countries. We are also monitoring developments in the US on the future allocation of official aid.

We are in regular contact with our partners, including with Governments in developing countries, UN and other multilateral agencies, Irish development NGOs and international NGOs on the impact of these cuts.

The Government remains firmly committed to our international development programme and to the overriding priority, to reach the furthest behind first. The Government has reaffirmed Ireland’s commitment to annual increases in our ODA, working towards achieving the target of 0.7% of Gross National Income. However, we continue to emphasise that it is not viable for Ireland, or indeed the EU, to make up the funding shortfall as a result of the US cuts and reductions by other donors.

We remain firmly committed to providing support that is both predictable and flexible. This helps our partners to adapt as well as possible to rapidly changing contexts.