Sir, - With the furore over the tax benefits in the recent budget, this year's allocation to Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) has been somewhat overlooked.
The Minister for Finance modestly increased the ODA allocation to £178 million. The Department of Finance also introduced the new EU measure for calculating GNP. The net result is that this year's allocation of ODA leaves us standing still. ODA is now at approximately 0.31 per cent of GNP - for every £100 spent, 31p goes on our overseas programme or Ireland Aid.
The Government's own target of ODA reaching 0.45 per cent of GNP by the year 2002 is hopelessly unrealistic. The UN target of ODA being 0.7 per cent of GNP is as far away as ever.
Once again, it is hard to follow the Minister's logic, given that the Exchequer is awash with funds and the Government was seeking non-inflationary ways of spending money. Overseas aid was a very worthy and obvious way of doing this.
One of the reasons given for the slow progress being made in meeting our international target for ODA is that the Ireland Aid programme is limited in capacity and cannot spend the money.
In the 1980s we heard the refrain: "We're too poor to pay. Wait until the good times come." Now, we are hearing: "We've prospered so fast, we can't spend the money."
If Ireland Aid cannot absorb an ever increasing budget, then the Government should look seriously at increasing the capacity of Ireland Aid.
It is time to revisit the debate of the early 1990s about how Ireland Aid should be structured and where it should be located. Serious consideration should now be given to establishing an independent implementing agency. The Department of Foreign Affairs would maintain overall political responsibility for the aid programme. But such a semi-State body would allow for greater flexibility in staffing matters and enhance the institutional memory and expertise of the aid programme.
It is also time to take seriously the Fine Gael proposal to take the ODA allocation out of the annual Budget estimates battle and deal with it through legislation.
The Government should take the time before the publication of the Finance Bill to revise the ODA allocation. Repeatedly the Irish people have demonstrated their extraordinary commitment to the developing World through their voluntary support of the aid agencies. It is time the Government followed their lead. - Yours, etc., Justin Kilcullen,
Director, Trocaire, Booterstown Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.