The Minister of State, Ms Liz O'Donnell, has strongly restated her case for a substantial increase in the State's aid budget, saying it was "a measure of our commitment to civilised values".
Speaking at the annual National Forum on Development Aid, Ms O'Donnell acknowledged the support for her stance on the aid budget from "the NGOs and broader civil society . . . There is perhaps no greater practical indicator of our solidarity with the poor of the world and the vindication of their human rights than through our ongoing work with developing countries," she said.
"I know that there is an overwhelming case for continuing to increase our aid budget in line with our stated commitment to reach the target of 0.7 per cent of GNP," Ms O'Donnell said. To reach the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP the aid budget would need to be doubled in today's terms. But the Government had set an interim target of 0.45 per cent, a target which she said was realistic and would set the State's contribution above the European average.
The executive director of Oxfam International, Mr Ernst Ligteringen, paid tribute to Ms O'Donnell's stand on the level of aid spending.