The United States' readiness to spend billions of dollars invading Iraq while 40 million people face death from an "unprecedented" famine in Southern Africa has been criticised by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt.
Highlighting the famine crisis that will reach a peak over the coming three months, Mr Kitt yesterday told the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee: "Quite simply, it is an unfolding disaster unprecedented in its scale and extent."
Questioning the priorities being set by "major decision-makers", Mr Kitt, who is responsible for Ireland's €250 million overseas aid budget, said: "Billions are being prepared for use in war in Iraq, while 40 million live under threat in Africa".
The Minister of State's criticisms were supported by his predecessor in the overseas aid portfolio, Progressive Democrat TD Ms Liz O'Donnell, who said the focus on Iraq had left the United Nations "deeply conflicted".
Some UN officials, she said, were currently preparing to deal with the humanitarian crisis that would be created by an invasion of Iraq "while on the other side of the building you have people gearing up for an assault on Iraq".
Meanwhile, "the African desks" of the United Nations struggling to cope with the signs of famine were "running out of money", Ms O'Donnell told the Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Mr Michael Woods.
However, the former Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, urged the committee not to adopt any stance that could be perceived as being "anti-American".
"I think we should keep ourselves very closely in line with the UN policy on Iraq," he said. "Our policy is in line with UN policy," he declared, and he complimented Ireland's UN representatives.