No aid date agreed to hit GNP target

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday declined to give UN Secretary General Kofi Annan any guarantee that Ireland’s overseas aid commitment will reach 0.7% of GNP by 2007.

Instead, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern only gave a commitment to reach the 0.7% level without any reference to when the goal would actually be met.

“As part of Ireland’s role in the creation of a more effective UN, I want to stress today that Ireland will meet the UN’s 0.7% GNP overseas development aid target,” he said.