Overseas aid: A 21 per cent increase in the overseas aid budget ensures Ireland remains on track to reach United Nations targets for aid spending by 2012.
Next year's allocation of €813 million means Ireland will devote €1 out of every €200 of its national wealth to helping developing countries.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern yesterday welcomed the increased allocation and said the proposed spending of 0.5 per cent of gross national product met the Government's interim target and was on the way to achieving the 0.7 per cent target of the UN.
Next year's increase of €130 million was greater than the entire overseas aid budget in 1995/96, he pointed out.
However, aid agencies, which had welcomed aid increases in previous years, were muted in response to this year's boost in spending. Unicef Ireland welcomed the increased provision for humanitarian emergencies.
The Minister of State with specific responsibility for the aid programme, Conor Lenihan, said Ireland was now one of the most generous donors in the world. The extra money would be spent on key areas of the aid programme, such as responding to natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies in developing countries.
The implementation of the recent White Paper on development aid and the decentralisation of Irish Aid to Limerick would be important priorities for 2007, he said. The 2007 allocation for Irish Aid amounts to €728 million, up from €600 million. A further €85 million will be provided for overseas aid through other Government departments.
The Estimates show that over 4 per cent of the aid budget is spent on administration. The allocation for emergency assistance is being increased from €60 million to €90 million, while Ireland's aid contributions to UN bodies will rise from €63 million to €86 million.
Funding for the Department of Foreign Affairs will be €209 million in 2007, an increase of just 2 per cent. The biggest increase is in the budget for emigrant organisations, where funding goes from €12 million to over €15 million.
"This represents a 15-fold increase in such provision since 1997 and reflects the Government's strong commitment to the welfare of the Irish abroad," said Mr Ahern.
