Dóchas calls for increase in overseas aid budget on back of record tax receipts

Irish aid agencies have called on the Government to use a portion of the projected increase in tax receipts this year to ensure the State meets its target for overseas development assistance (ODA).

Over many years the Republic has committed itself to achieving a domestic and European Union commitment for ODA funding that equals 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI). But the target has never been met and the Government’s objective is to achieve it by 2030. Last year the target was nearly reached and this is expected to happen again this year as a result of the costs associated with the State’s response to the Ukraine war.

Preliminary figures for last year suggest 0.64 per cent of GNI went towards overseas aid, but the increase is regarded as a temporary spike set to fall when the war concludes.

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Dóchas, the Irish network of international development and humanitarian non-government agencies, said a 10 per cent increase in tax revenues forecast for this year should result in more resources being set aside for those most in need.

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Speaking on behalf of its member organisations, who work in more than 140 countries, Dóchas chief executive Jane-Ann McKenna said: “For communities encountering their sixth consecutive failed rainy season in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the impacts of climate change are being acutely felt. Drought, water scarcity and soaring food prices are pushing millions of people into extreme levels of food insecurity. Decades of progress towards ending poverty and hunger are rapidly being reversed.”

Ms McKenna urged the Government to make real and tangible progress to reach its commitments, saying the State must support those who were left furthest behind in the least developed countries.

She was speaking following the publication of the latest exchequer figures, which show that tax revenues to the end of July were up by €4.3 billion (10 per cent) when compared to this time last year.

The percentage of GNI allowed for overseas development aid rose in the first years of the century, peaking at 0.59 per cent in 2008. But in light of the financial crisis, it fell subsequently over the following decade to 0.32 per cent of GNI in 2015 and again in 2017; €743 million was allowed in 2023.

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Since then the figure has increased. Minister of State for International Development Seán Fleming said in June that the gross allocation for this year is €1.233 billion, the highest allocation to date. He said it was “the ninth consecutive year in which the allocation for ODA has increased. And the second consecutive year in which the allocation has reached over €1 billion.”

He acknowledged that the overall figures had been affected by the provision of services for Ukrainian refugees in the Republic, rising to some €2.33 billion or 0.64 per cent of GNI.

Mr Fleming, replying to a parliamentary question from Bríd Smith of People Before Profit, said that none of the costs associated with the reception of Ukrainian refugees were sourced from the original ODA allocation for last year and this would also be the situation this year.

He also said the Government was committed to providing at least €225 million annually in international climate finance by 2025.