Call on Europe to give more development aid

EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS must increase spending on development aid if they are to meet poverty reduction targets they have set themselves, the director of Trócaire said yesterday.

Speaking at a public meeting organised by the European Commission in Dublin, Justin Kilcullen said EU states spent €46 billion on aid last year. And while the UN millennium goal of halving the number of people living in poverty by 2015 was likely to be met, this would be due in large part to progress in China and India.

By measuring poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa, it could be seen that donor countries were "way off" their targets.

Mr Kilcullen said €46 billion was only three times greater than the Irish health budget, adding: "In that perspective, €46 billion is not enough to meet the targets we have set ourselves."

Former minister for justice Nora Owen, now a board member with Concern, said there were undue delays for NGOs seeking to access EU funds, particularly at times of humanitarian emergencies.

Liz O'Donnell, former minister of State with responsibility for Irish Aid, said she believed Ireland's funds were reaching those most in need, which was not true of many states for whom aid spending was informed by economic and strategic interests.

"Aid is a fallible business. Irish people frequently say that aid is somehow useless or wasted, but don't see that Ireland benefited from aid - it just wasn't called aid but structural funds."

Michael King, senior research officer at the Institute for Inter-national Integration Studies at Trinity College, commended Irish Aid for not attaching conditions to its support. On whether aid was being given to the most appropriate countries (those with the most need and best governance), Ireland performed very well.