Govt 'committed' to overseas aid pledge

Overseas Aid Minister Connor Lenihan has said the Government is committed to providing 0.7% of GNP to developing countries.

His comments mark a change from comments he made last week when he said it was not realistic to reach that figure by 2007.

Conor Lenihan told the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs today the Government will do all it can to meet it's UN obligations.

“We remain committed to reach this target, we are currently standing at 0.4% of GNP which is well above the European Union average which is 0.35%.”