Taoiseach insists aid target will be met

IRELAND will live up to its pledges on Third World aid despite the slide into recession, Brian Cowen last night insisted.

His comments came as Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin insisted the Government’s credibility at the UN is intact despite slashing €45 million from the Irish overseas aid budget in July.

The Taoiseach moved to allay fears among development organisations about the Government’s commitment to combating global poverty as he launched an Irish blueprint to end world hunger at the United Nations in New York.