At a time of unprecedented economic well-being in Ireland, much attention has been focused on those people who have been, to use the well-worn phrase, by-passed by the Celtic Tiger.

Clearly, Wednesday's Budget addressed many of the most pressing needs in our society in a comprehensive way. But, of course, we have much more than just our domestic responsibilities to deal with.

As a relatively prosperous country in a world where millions still live in abject poverty - confronted daily by life-threatening disease and malnutrition - we have a moral obligation to be generous on a wider front.

Over the last 25 years, the Government has ploughed millions of pounds of taxpayers' money into overseas aid programmes - with the concentration on assisting the poorest of the poor, with particular emphasis on basic health and primary education in sub-Saharan Africa.

War, poverty, disease, debt and illiteracy still face the people of sub-Saharan Africa, where 220 million people subsist on $1 a day. Through Irish aid programmes, we make a long-term investment.

One example of the difference your money makes is in an Irish aid programme in Sidama in Ethiopia where school participation in the district has doubled in the last five years and because of new models of community-based schools - where schools are localised and closer to communities - 80 per cent of the new intake of pupils is female.

In the health sector, in the district of Kibaale in Uganda four years ago, the only hospital catering for a population of 250,000 was in very poor repair and had only one doctor for 100 beds. With Irish aid assistance, the hospital is now a fully functional facility with a full complement of doctors.

In the early days, the priority countries for Irish Aid were Lesotho, Zambia and Tanzania. But in 1992, following a significant commitment to increased aid from the then Government, Ethiopia, Uganda and Mozambique were added.

It's not a case of just throwing money at the enormous problems of poverty that exist. Ireland is essentially entering into partnerships with the authorities in these countries to enhance the quality of life and the productivity of poor people. We work with governments and civil society to ensure that issues such as democracy, human rights, gender equality and environmental concerns are prioritised.

In recent times, we have been confronted on our television screens by the horror wrought on millions of people in Central America by Hurricane Mitch.

Our response is twofold - in the first instance, to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to deal with the immediate devastation but, secondly, to focus on the inevitable post-emergency needs of rehabilitation and reconstruction. That reconstruction must take account of the environmental and political mistakes of the past.

Not too long ago, the plight of the people in southern Sudan was starkly presented to the world. Out of the mainstream news agenda now, the difficulties in this region nevertheless persist. After 15 years of civil war, drought and floods, the people in southern Sudan have almost exhausted their ability to cope and are living in the most extreme poverty.

Only a massive delivery of food aid is helping hundreds of thousands of people to survive. However, there are still many cases of severe malnutrition and there is a critical need to address food security issues and health-related matters such as water and sanitation.

All the experts agree that resources will need to be provided on a large scale for at least the next 12 months. The only lasting solution to the famine and hardship in Sudan is lasting peace between the Sudanese government and the rebel factions in the south. Ireland and other donors are involved in that peace process.

It is against this backdrop of almost relentless human need in many parts of the world that the Government is now seeking to undertake a radical new departure when it comes to committing tax-payers' money to the Third World.

The Government's overseas aid budget has risen from £40 million to £137 million over the last six years.

Between now and 2001, a guaranteed minimum of £400 million will be spent on Irish aid to the Third World. This represents an increase of 66 per cent on the existing budget for direct aid and is separate and additional to other increases in aid and debt relief packages.

One of the main bones of contention of the many stakeholders in this field - including Irish agencies such as Goal, Trocaire, Concern - has been the difficulties experienced when it comes to longterm planning.

Under the new regime - known as multi-annual funding - we have guaranteed minimum increases over the next three years.

In other words, there is now predictability and the annual wrangle over what will be spent on overseas aid is a thing of the past. We will have steady increases each year in GNP terms and the commitment to reach 0.45 per cent of GNP by 2002 remains.

As for 1999, I am confident the flexibility which follows from the multi-annual approach will permit us to make adjustments to respond to any needs which may arise in our spending programmes.

Of course, our commitment of hundreds of millions of pounds to overseas aid will not in itself solve the intractable problems facing the Third World. But we have reason to be proud of our contribution.

A COUPLE of weeks ago, the Government, at the insistence of Charlie McCreevy, committed £20 million to a loan fund to ease the crippling debt burden on some of the most impoverished nations in the world. World Bank officials, who administer the fund, were delighted by the generous contribution, and hope it will set an example to other donor countries whose recent performance in this area has had more to do with contraction than expansion.

As Minister with responsibility for overseas aid, I will be seeking to ensure that our recent fine record of assisting the weakest in the world is maintained and enhanced and that we continue to grow and develop our aid programme.

The recent debate has been welcome. It has focused public attention on issues of global solidarity, and on our commitment to civilised values at a time of plenty. On these fundamental issues, I want to ensure that Ireland's place is among the leaders.