Madam, - There have been so many letters to your newspaper regarding this country's commitment on overseas aid that I feel it important I should respond, given that my name has been mentioned in many of them.
The following points need to be made:
1. Ireland is now the seventh largest donor of overseas aid when calculated on a per capita basis.
2. The Estimates' allocation this year to overseas aid was the largest in the history of the state.
3. Over the next three years €1.8 billion will be devoted to the Third World from Ireland - the restoration of the multi-annual funding arrangement was a key demand for those in the development sector.
4. This three-year funding is not capped and can be improved on further.
5. The UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP has not been abandoned, but rather the timeframe may have to be changed.
6. This year's allocation of an extra €190 million over three years pushes us much closer to the target and means it can now be achieved.
7. Development Co-operation Ireland through its programme gives €100 million to the non-governmental organisations that do so much to raise the awareness of the third world here at home in Ireland as well as their valuable work overseas.
It is noteworthy that the UN agency UNICEF, through its Irish section, was generous in its welcome for the increases secured from the Estimates negotiations. - Yours, etc.,
CONOR LENIHAN, TD, Minister of State for Overseas Development and Human Rights, Dublin 2.
Madam, - Like many Irish people, I was proud of the Government's commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of GNP to overseas aid by 2007. This commitment was made by the Taoiseach at the UN and to me was a global undertaking rather than a local political promise (a somewhat devalued currency these days).
Since 2002 our aid has reduced from 0.41 per cent to 0.39 per cent and we are now told we are unlikely to get to even 0.5 per cent by 2007. Three excuses are given:
1. We did not foresee the large growth in GNP and thus can not afford to make the larger cash allocation. This is saying in effect that we cannot meet our commitment because the economy has done so well. Pathetic.
2. We have never provided so much funds and at 0.4 per cent we are ahead of most other countries. So what? We knew this at the time the commitment was made. Even more pathetic.
3. According to Mr Conor Lenihan, certain unnamed organisations have misspent Government monies provided to them and so we should not throw good money after bad. If this is true we need to be told which organisations are concerned, how much was misspent, how Mr Lenihan's predecessors allowed this to happen and what he is now doing about it. You would not reduce social welfare payments to all on an allegation that some claims were bogus. Most pathetic.
This Government is guilty of tarnishing this country's honourable reputation on Third World matters, which is based mainly on the work done by missionaries and volunteers working with the poorest people, often in harsh conditions in refugee camps and ravaged landscapes much like our own in the late 1840s.- Yours, etc.,
JIM CASEY, Granitefield, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, - It is extremely disappointing that the Taoiseach appears to have copped out of his very public commitment on foreign aid. We are a small country, but we should never underestimate the benefit of good example.
We made a commitment to help those much poorer than ourselves and we should stick with it. If we fulfil our commitments perhaps we can encourage others to do likewise. If we welch on our commitments, we make it easier for others to follow suit.
Finally, the Taoiseach should only make promises that he knows he will fulfil. - Yours, etc.,
PÁDRAIG KIERNAN, Marley Rise, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.