Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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94. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide an update on the work of Irish Aid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22795/26]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Ireland’s international development programme is integral to our foreign policy. It enables Ireland to contribute to reducing poverty, alleviating suffering, and improving the lives of some of the world’s poorest communities.

The Government's international development policy, A Better World, remains the framework for our development cooperation programme and our response to humanitarian crises. It has a clear focus on reaching the furthest behind first. To achieve this, we concentrate our efforts on four overarching policy priorities: gender equality, reducing humanitarian need, climate action, and strengthening governance. Our programme has a primary focus on sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries.

For 2026, the Government has provided €866.4 million for the Irish Aid programme managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is the highest ever level in the 52-year history of the programme. The increase of €56 million in funding on 2025 will primarily be allocated to assistance for the humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Palestine, and Sudan. Other increases will support maternal health, the global vaccine alliance GAVI, the Global Fund for HIV/Aids, TB and malaria, and the fight to end the scandal of child malnutrition.

Ireland’s steadfast support for international development comes at a time of substantial international challenges. The OECD projects that by 2027 Official Development Assistance will have fallen to levels last seen in 2020. Ireland is fully engaged in a number of international initiatives to look into the future of development cooperation . During our upcoming European Union Presidency, we will encourage the EU to drive reform and change that advances the economic development and the welfare of developing countries.

We are at a pivotal moment in the fight to address poverty and inequality globally. In particular, it will be important to ensure that progress towards gender equality does not further stall or reverse, and that global progress on gender equality is protected. We have integrated action on gender equality across the development programme, and we are also supporting work directly dedicated to supporting women’s political and economic empowerment. We are prioritising girls’ access to quality education; addressing gender based violence, including in crisis settings; and improving women and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health care and rights.