Minor cuts to overseas aid budget

IRISH OVERSEAS development aid will suffer only minor cuts next year, being maintained at almost €900 million, it emerged yesterday. Brendan Rogers secretary general of Irish Aid - the Government's overseas development agency - said the aid budget would be €754 million with an additional €137 million being spent by Government departments.

While the total spend for next year, at €891 million, is €8 million less than 2008, the shrinking economy means the aid budget will actually rise as a percentage of GNP. Mr Rogers was speaking at the launch of a new partnership initiative between Irish Aid and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on women and the disabled in business, as well as forced and child labour.

He said development goals to halve world poverty by 2015 would not be met unless "decent work" could be offered to those in danger of poverty. Mr Rogers was congratulated by representatives of the social partners David Begg of Ictu and Turlough O'Sullivan of Ibec, on maintaining the Irish Aid budget in the face of widespread cutbacks. Ibec, Ictu and Irish Aid, jointly agreed to support International Labour Organisation programmes aimed at increasing the opportunities for women's entrepreneurship while including the disabled in business and combating forced labour and child labour in the developing world.

Mr O'Sullivan said the screening of the story of a HIV positive, disabled woman entrepreneur who employs four people in a weaving enterprise in Tanzania, was a "showcase where Irish people could see the difference they can make". He said Ibec was "delighted" to support the project through social partnership.

Mr Begg said the annual budget for development aid across the world was €103 billion " or one-seventh of the cost of the rescue package for financial institutions in the United States. What could be achieved", he asked, if there was "such a worldwide consensus on what must be done to tackle poverty?"

Commenting on the aid budget, Mr Rogers said the percentage share of GNP for overseas aid in 2007 was 0.54 per cent. The final figures for 2008 are not yet available, but the prediction of 0.56 for 2009 may turn out to be a record, at least in percentage GNP terms.