Trócaire's CEO has called on the Irish Government to set a timeline of 2030 for meeting commitments previously agreed on overseas aid spending.
Caoimhe de Barra’s call comes amid mounting pressure on governments' humanitarian spending across the western and developed world, including a dramatic 83% cut to USAID, the United States' foreign aid agency and the world's largest donor.
The UK and several European Union countries have also cut aid spending.
Since the UN target was set in 1970, successive Irish governments committed to spending 0.7% of Gross National Income on Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). The last government pledged to meet that target by 2030.
The Government says it will "work towards" that spending goal, without specifying a date.
Ms de Barra has said that even before global trends shifted Ireland was some way off meeting the commitment.
"We are barely halfway to that target, which we should be meeting by 2030. I think what the Irish Government can do is to say not only are we not going to cut our aid, but we are going to set out a pathway to reach the target," Ms de Barra said.
"I think we can do better as an Irish population. At this moment, there's never been a more critical time to do that," Ms de Barra added.
In 2023, Ireland spent 0.38% of GNI on overseas development programmes - down slightly from 0.39% in 2022.
While the official ODA figure stands at 0.67%, this includes domestic spending - such as the €1.2 billion used to support Ukrainian refugees in Ireland.
Of the total €2.6bn aid budget, just €1.4bn was spent overseas.
The Department of Foreign Affairs says its 2024 allocation has increased by €35 million, bringing the total to its highest ever level since the aid programme began in 1974.
Worsening situation
The appeal for action from the likes of Trócaire comes as global humanitarian needs hit record highs last year according to the DFA.
"Since 2019, humanitarian needs have nearly tripled, from 131 million people in need in 2019 to 363 million in 2024. The deteriorating situation is as a result of numerous factors, including an increase in conflict and the impact of climate change," a statement from the DFA said.
During this period, Ireland’s humanitarian aid spending has remained steady, accounting for between 21% and 23% of total ODA since 2019 with funding targeting crises in countries such as Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Myanmar, as well as responses to disasters like the earthquakes in Syria, Turkey and Morocco, according to the DFA.
Despite these crises, the DFA says there are still significant shortfalls in the amount of humanitarian aid available globally.
"In 2024, the gap was more than €32 billion. Recent significant budget cuts across a number of countries will mean that it will be harder to reach and support all people in need," according to the DFA.
World’s poorest losing out
While recent moves to cut foreign aid spending by the US, UK and EU have had an impact, experts warn that long-term development support for the world’s poorest countries has been declining steadily for years.
"The traditional thing of giving money to the programme counties in Africa in particular has been on a very big decline since the [2008] financial crisis," according to Professor Patrick Paul Walsh, Professor of Global Affairs and Sustainable Futures at University College Dublin.
"For NGOs [non-governmental organisations], we’ve increased [funding] a little bit over the last few years, given that our fiscal position is better. But the reality is that the development focus has changed in Irish Aid.
"We don't meet the SDG [Sustainable Development Goals] target of having at least 15% of our budget traceable to the least developed countries. In fact, last year it went down to 10%," Prof Walsh added.
This trend is something Ms de Barra is familiar with.
She says their funds are increasingly going to meet emergencies and humanitarian crises rather than building up poorer countries’ capacities and their long-term development.
"More and more of the available funding is going towards people in crisis, and that’s coming at the cost of long-term development. Ultimately, we need to invest in the basic social infrastructure that will enable people to break the cycle of poverty," Ms de Barra said.
Watch Oonagh Smyth and Sallyanne Godson’s report on cuts to aid globally on the 27 March edition of Prime Time on RTÉ One and the RTÉ player at 9.35pm.
