The viability of Irish Aid is under threat because of the Government's plans to decentralise the programme away from the Department of Foreign Affairs to Limerick, according to the opposition.
Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton and Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman Bernard Allen said the expansion of the Irish Aid programme was under threat because significant numbers of specialists were refusing to decentralise to Limerick.
"The unwillingness of specialists to decentralise and the separation of Irish Aid from its mother department in Dublin will mean that vital expertise will be absent at the very time that spending on overseas aid is to treble over the next five years," said Ms Burton.
Mr Allen said: "The audit report of the Department of Foreign Affairs finally confirms what has long been known, that the Government's botching of Irish Aid's decentralisation and the lack of checks on aid programmes are seriously undermining overseas aid spending."
Both TDs were commenting on an audit report of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the details of which were revealed today in The Irish Times.
The report states: "The predicted loss of key personnel at a critical time of significant budget and programme expansion is of the most serious concern."
According to committee chairman Fr Gerard O'Connor: "There is a danger that the excellent international reputation that Irish Aid enjoys will be threatened by staffing shortages".
The Impact trade union says only 47 Irish Aid staff, most of them newly arrived from other departments, have indicated a willingness to move - out of 160 posts that are being transferred.
However, Irish Aid claims it has filled 69 per cent of its staffing requirement.
The report also said there are insufficient checks against fraud and major staff shortages in the evaluation and auditing of aid programmes.