Madam, - The Department of Foreign Affairs claims it can replace 90 per cent of its development aid staff, who are qualified and experienced development experts, through training and induction, and that this will "not result in any damage to the integrity" of our aid programme (The Irish Times, May 25th).
This is typical of the self-deluding mentality which prevails around Government plans to decentralise organisations that depend heavily on specialist staff. The loss of institutional memory and expertise in Development Co-operation Ireland - in particular the critically important diplomatic, overseas and technical expertise required - cannot simply be replaced through training and induction.
The Irish Government has given a commitment to double its overseas aid spending to over €1 billion, to meet the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP.
How can any organisation be expected to do this effectively while simultaneously losing 90 per cent of its experienced staff? The Development Co-operation Programme itself would not consider supporting such an ill-conceived proposal from an organisation applying for overseas development funding. - Yours, etc,
ANGELA KIRK, Assistant General Secretary, IMPACT, Nerney's Court, Dublin 1.