Harney confirms Government is to renege on UN aid pledge

THE Government is to renege on a promise made to the United Nations to meet overseas aid targets by 2007, Tánaiste Mary Harney confirmed yesterday.

Ms Harney admitted that the pledge to donate 0.7% of GDP in development aid would now only be met if Ireland goes into recession. “I accept that we are not going to meet the 0.7% but the Government has many demands, time frames change,” she told the Dáil.

“Over the next three years we will give an additional €1.8 billion in Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), and that is a considerable increase.” The concession prompted loud heckles from the Opposition benches and cries of “you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said it was clear a promise had been broken.

He said the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had twice promised the targets would be met, once in 2000 and again two years later. Mr Sargent quoted the Taoiseach as saying it was “essential” to meet the goals and that the decline in global ODA was “shameful, indefensible and inconsistent.”

Ms Harney said the development aid increases over the next three years would be the largest monetary increases ever given. “The fact is there are a lot of competing demands, particularly in the area of disability,” she added.

“Our commitment is still way ahead of the EU average and we are one of the highest donors in the world.”

In the Book of Estimates, Finance Minister Brian Cowen said that ODA would reach €535m next year, the highest amount ever allocated in the history of the aid programme.

But opposition parties later demanded Minister of State Conor Lenihan publicly apologise for questioning the integrity of overseas aid agencies. He stressed that value for money was a core issue and that it was vital to determine how much is spent on advocacy as opposed to what goes directly to the Third World.

Last week, Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof branded politicians “pathetic” for failing to react to the problems of Africa.

The 0.7% target formed part of the Millennium Development Goals endorsed by world leaders, the UN, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in September 2000.

They set minimum standards to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by 2015.

So far almost 190 countries have signed up.