THE OECD has issued a broadly positive review of the Government’s overseas development programme, although it cautions against further cuts that would serve to undermine Ireland’s commitment to achieving UN aid spending targets.
The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) this week released its main findings and recommendations on Irish Aid, the Government’s overseas development division, as part of a series of examinations of member aid policies and programmes.
The DAC peer review took place on March 24th. The Irish delegation attending the review meeting was led by Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power.
The meeting took place two weeks before the Government decided to cut the aid budget by €100 million in the April 7th emergency Budget, a move that provoked outrage from Ireland’s overseas development sector.
The DAC commends the Government for its “impressive growth” in overseas development assistance (ODA) from 2003 to 2008.
“The Irish Government is committed to meeting the United Nations ODA target of 0.7 per cent of GNI by 2012,” the report says.
“The challenge for the Government is to reach these targets despite severe economic downturn and increased budgetary pressure . . . The DAC urges the Government to refrain from further budgetary action that would undermine this commitment.”
The report notes that Ireland is “balancing efforts to meet the best international development standards while dealing with the impact of the global economic crisis”.
It describes Irish Aid as “a strong, cutting-edge, development co-operation programme”.
However, it expresses concern about the impact of relocating Irish Aid’s headquarters to Limerick as part of the decentralisation drive, saying the move could make it more difficult to ensure policy coherence.
“The move poses challenges in terms of maintaining close linkages with other Government departments, embassies and other organisations and NGOs based in Dublin. Ireland is encouraged to find innovative ways to address these challenges,” the report says.
The DAC praises Ireland as “a champion in making aid more effective”. It notes that poverty reduction is the overriding goal of Irish Aid, and reflecting this its programme is “well concentrated” on a limited number of very poor countries in Africa.
“Ireland is a predictable and flexible donor, and its attention to local priorities is appreciated by the developing country partners with whom it works.”
The report will be launched by Mr Power in Dublin on May 7th.