Govt to provide €70m AIDS funding to Clinton Foundation

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has signed a new deal that will see the Government provide €70m to help fight HIV and AIDS in Africa.

The agreement was signed during talks between Mr Ahern and former US President Bill Clinton at Farmleigh House in Dublin today.

The €70m will be donated to the Clinton Foundation and will make Ireland the largest single donor country to the organisation.

It will targeted particularly at Mozambique and Lesotho, two of the African countries worst affected by HIV/AIDS.

A large media presence had gathered at Farmleigh for this morning's talks.

However, Mr Ahern and Mr Clinton decided not to take any questions whatsoever as the Taoiseach remains embroiled in controversy over the payments he received from businessmen in the early 1990s.