Ireland remains on course to meet a UN target for spending on overseas aid by 2012, which would be three years ahead of the target set by the EU, Minister of State for overseas development Michael Kitt said yesterday.
Speaking at the publication of Irish Aid's 2006 annual report Mr Kitt said that the State spent €814 million last year on projects in more than 90 countries. Over €140 million had been provided to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and missionaries to support their anti-poverty measures.
He said the overall total represented 0.5 per cent of the country's Gross National Product (GNP), meaning Ireland was on track to reach the UN target of spending 0.7 per cent of GNP in five years' time.
This would be three years ahead of the EU target in this regard, he said, before noting that Ireland was also ranked the sixth most generous per capita aid donor in the world by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
According to the report, Irish Aid provided move than €100 million to 40 countries to meet basic humanitarian and recovery needs arising out of natural disasters and other emergencies. This represented an almost 50 per cent rise in such funding compared to 2005.
The report reveals that €30 million was spent on aid projects in Ethiopia despite criticism of the country's human rights record.
Mr Kitt said that countries in Africa were among the primary recipients of Irish Aid's programme of emergency and recovery assistance, with €6.5 million having been provided to help address the situation in the Darfur area of Sudan last year.
Irish Aid also allocated €100 million to tackle HIV/Aids and other communicable diseases last year. Ireland now allocates a greater proportion of its overseas development aid to tackling HIV/Aids than any other EU country, Mr Kitt said.
About half of Irish Aid's staff have so far relocated to Limerick under the Government's decentralisation programme. This is despite concerns that this could lead to the loss of specialist staff and increased travel and liaison costs.
The international relief and development agency World Vision Ireland yesterday commended the State's commitment to overseas aid. Its chief executive, Helen Keogh, highlighted the commitment of over €140 million to NGOs.