Ireland's overseas aid programme is now the fastest-growing of all the OECD donor countries, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, has said.
At the publication yesterday of the Irish Aid annual report for 1998, which follows a top rating for Ireland in an OECD review of member-states' donor programmes, Ms O'Donnell said the growth of Irish aid was running dramatically against the international trend.
She also announced that aid for this year, the 25th anniversary of the programme, would reach a record £178 million, £40 million more than last year. The figure represents 0.35 per cent of Gross National Product, half the UN recommended level.
The OECD review, published on Monday, was carried out by the organisation's Development Assistance Committee, and involved a field visit to Uganda, one of Ireland's priority countries, as well as a visit to Dublin for discussions with the Minister, officials and others involved in the aid sector.
The committee praised the focused nature of the programme, the concern with results and the level of standards set.
Ms O'Donnell said the review had set Irish aid in a very positive light. "It shows that we have a high-quality, results-driven programme, which has grown faster over the last five years than any of the 20 other OECD donor countries. We set high standards, and we put these standards into practice. This has been recognised by our peers."
"Between 1992 and 1997 total aid from OECD donors fell from $60.8 billion to $47.6 billion, or from 0.33 per cent to 0.22 per cent of their combined GNPs. During the same period we trebled our aid budget," she added.
The 1998 report is a special edition to mark the programme's 25th anniversary year. It notes that Ireland's partner countries in sub-Saharan Africa have undergone huge changes over the period, with democracy sweeping though the region, but effective machinery for government is still a long way off in many states.
The document identifies the global trading system as an area in which the odds "appear stacked against developing countries".
"Indeed, it might be properly asked if we have a true global economy and trading system if only the few benefit. The 51 states of sub-Saharan Africa account for less than 1 per cent of world trade. Falling world market prices for primary commodities and barriers to trade are among the factors limiting access," it adds.
In an introduction to the report, Prof Helen O'Neill of University College Dublin notes that Irish aid has evolved from "a rather ad hoc collection of projects largely managed by expatriates" into a much more coherent approach linked into the structures of partner countries.
"As regards substance and approach, Ireland now compares favourably with the other small EU donors; compared with New Zealand, a country identical in size and income per head, it stands up very well under both measures," she adds.
Commenting on the report, Trocaire called on the Government to set out now the annual steps it would take towards reaching its declared aid target of 0.45 per cent of GNP within the life of the Coalition.
Mr Justin Kilcullen, the agency's director, also called for the aid figure to be removed from the annual estimates process, with a fixed progression towards the UN target "and an end to the annual debate on the issue".
