Plan to reverse fall in Irish aid

A roadmap towards Ireland meeting UN targets for international aid is expected to be set out next year by the Government.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, admitting Ireland had fallen back with its overseas aid commitments in recent years, said a schedule will be put in place to reverse that.

The State previously agreed that by 2015 it would spend 0.7% of its gross national income on development aid under the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But our contribution has fallen back to just 0.3%, or 30 cent out of every €100. Mr Varadkar said that will change.