'Third World cannot be trusted to audit aid’

THIRD World countries cannot be trusted to tell the truth about how Ireland’s multi-billion euro aid budget is spent, TDs warned last night.

The Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) demanded a much tighter grip on where relief resources end up, as the country’s overseas aid programmes are set to top 1 billion a year.

“We do not think we should accept the audit of a government in sub-Saharan Africa at face value,” PAC chairman Michael Noonan TD said.