State is accused of betraying hopes of the poor

Government's approach to the WTO talks is considered inconsistent, writes Denis Staunton, in Cancún

Irish anti-poverty campaigners have accused the Government of taking an inconsistent approach to this week's World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations in Cancún and of betraying the hopes of millions of people in the developing world.

Mr Colin Roche of Oxfam Ireland said the Government's approach to the talks was in direct conflict with its commitment to help the world's least developed countries out of poverty.

"We have seen no evidence that the Irish Government is making any serious input into the development angle of these negotiations," he said.

"We've yet to see an initiative or some sort of political capital being weighed in behind a development round," he said.

The Government is represented at Cancún by three ministers - the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, the Minister of State for Development and Human Rights, Mr Kitt; and the Minister of State for Trade and Employment, Mr Ahern.

Mr Justin Kilcullen of Trócaire suggested that there was a clear tension within the three ministers' attitudes to the talks.

"I think that one of the key issues is coherence on policy towards trade, agriculture and development assistance. "There are three Departments represented here by three Ministers and one suspects they are not at one on this. One assumes there have got to be tensions there," he said.

Mr Kitt insisted that the Government's position was balanced and coherent, reflecting its commitment to help the world's poorest while defending the national interest.

"I genuinely believe that as a Government we can marry those common interests, the domestic concerns, the need to push on towards more liberalisation but having to have a very strong emphasis on the needs of the least developed countries. We cannot afford to let these people down," he said.

Mr Kitt said it was important to remember that many within Ireland's farming community were marginalised and that their interests had to be protected.

He added that the developing countries represented a powerful group within the WTO, which takes decisions by consensus.

"The developing countries have a majority in this organisation of 146 members. They have the most powerful bloc there if they want to use it.

"It's a much maligned, a much criticised organisation, yet the reality is that developing countries want to join," he said.

The Government has adopted an uncompromising approach to the issue of agriculture in the WTO talks, arguing that a reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) agreed earlier this year represented a substantial move by the EU to reduce the trade-distorting effects of its farm subsidy system.

Mr Kilcullen acknowledged that Irish farmers needed protection, but said the Government's tough line on the agriculture negotiations was damaging the national interest.

"I certainly feel that, between France and Ireland, we are perceived within the development community internationally, amongst the NGOs here in Cancún, as the two EU countries that are most stuck on the present form of the Common Agricultural Policy. I don't think that's good for Ireland to be perceived in that way and I feel it will take a braver step than has been done so far," he said.

Mr Roche said the Government faced a stark choice in Cancún - to support developing countries or to oppose their demands.

He praised the Government's record on development aid but said it should use its influence within the EU to argue for more concessions to poor countries on agriculture.

"It's surely a sign of our status as a nation in the international arena that, when our own national interests are in some way impinged on and when there are hard choices to be made that we can't put ourselves forward and say that people in the South deserve to be able to eat, to be able to drink, to be able to have an education and that we will help them to do that," he said.