There is good news and bad news for the Coalition Government in the latest report from the United Nations. Ireland's ranking, in terms of the quality of life of its citizens, which involves access to education, tackling poverty, human rights and other criteria, has improved from 18th in the world to 12th. On the negative side, Ireland is still ranked second last amongst developed countries in terms of poverty and inequality. Only the United States has a worse record.
In spite of such mixed findings, the decision by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to launch its report in Dublin was a carefully considered compliment to the Government and to the taxpayers of this State for their generosity in providing greater financial resources for foreign aid. Ireland now allocates 0.41 per cent of GDP to its foreign aid programme and Mr Mark Malloch Brown, the UNDP administrator, said it had led by example and had displayed how to make a global partnership between rich and poor countries a reality. The UNDP is particularly anxious that the United States should increase its foreign aid funding from a current level of 0.11 per cent of GDP.
The prospect of Ireland meeting its foreign policy objective of spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on international aid programmes by 2007 appears to be increasingly remote as the economy weakens. Targets have already slipped. And while the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, yesterday undertook to raise the cash allocation for foreign aid in the coming Budget, he declined to express it as a percentage of GDP.
On the home front, the UN report emphasised the need for robust Government action in tackling persistent poverty and inequality, even as it recognised the advances that had been made in improving the quality of life.
Last year, the Government published a National Anti-Poverty Strategy as part of an EU-wide action plan. It promised to publish guidelines for respite care this year; to provide emergency accommodation and services for "rough sleepers" by 2004; to halve the level of functional illiteracy amongst school leavers by 2006 and to eliminate long-term unemployment by 2007. Those and other commitments are already in doubt because of economic and fiscal difficulties.
As this UN report makes clear for yet another year, Ireland has the greatest disparity of incomes in Europe and is a deeply unequal society. In providing more generous funding for overseas aid, the Government must not shirk from tackling poverty, social exclusion and deprivation here at home.