The Tánaiste, Mary Harney, has said the Government remains committed to the target of devoting 0.7% of GNP to overseas development aid by the year 2007, as promised by the Taoiseach at the UN Millennium Summit.
Ms Harney told the Dáil the Government took a decision, which had not been changed, and remains committed to substantially increasing aid.
Opposition parties questioned the Government's commitment to the target in the wake of suggestions by the new Junior Foreign Affairs Minister, Conor Lenihan, that they had to be ‘realistic’ about the chances of meeting the target.
The Labour Party leader, Pat Rabbitte, pointed out that the first cut when the Government ‘reversed engines’ after the 2002 election was in overseas aid, and asked if the poor and hungry of the Third World would be victims of cuts.
He also asked if Minister Lenihan was on a ‘solo run’.
The Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent, said Mr Lenihan was effectively saying that the Taoiseach had been ‘fibbing’ to the UN, and asked whether the PDs were prepared to walk away from Government if the target was dropped.
Ms Harney said the reason for the slippage in the target was the growth in GNP, and said there was cross-party support for multi-annual funding and significant resources for aid, and the Government should bear that in mind when it framed the next Budget.
