As Minister of State responsible for Development Cooperation and Human rights, I am proud of what the Government and the Irish people are doing to fight poverty in some of the poorest countries in the world.

In 2003, we will spend €€450m, or 0.41% of our Gross National Product on Development Aid.
This is an all time high. It reflects our national solidarity with people who face a daily struggle for food, for water, for basic medical care.

I know that our own economy faces some difficult challenges. As the most globalised economy in the world, we are not insulated from the global economic slowdown.
The exchequer finances are under strain, and the Government faces some tough decisions.
I know we face national challenges in the health sector, in education, in infrastructural funding.But we remain by any international standards a prosperous country.

This year’’s UN Human Development Report saw Ireland rise by 6 places in the Index of living standards. We are now among the better off nations of the world. Every year we spend over €1400 on the provision of health services for every man, woman and child in Ireland. In the poorest countries in Africa, Governments can afford about €€6 per year for health care for each of their citizens. Hardly enough to buy a package of Panadol. If an Irish person falls ill with a deadly disease such as AIDS, they can be assured of treatment with the most sophisticated drugs money can buy. Drugs that can allow them to live a normal life. These drugs can cost up to €15,000 per person per year. We see this as money well spent.

In Africa, there are 29 million people with HIV/AIDS. Less than 1% have access to treatment. The disease for millions is a death sentence. That is why there are 11 million orphans on the continent. Over the past year, I have seen people living at levels of poverty that we can hardly imagine. People facing famine in Ethiopia, orphaned children, themselves suffering from AIDS, in Zambia. And I have seen what our help achieves. I have seen the schools, the medical centres, the orphanages that give hope for the future to hundreds of thousands of people. I have seen the food aid that is literally saving people from dying in rural Ethiopia. As we debate and reflect on our national challenges, let us not forget that over 1.2 billion people are living on less than $1 per day. Let us be proud of our national support for those whose lives we are saving and transforming.

During our Presidency of the EU next year, I want Ireland to take a lead in Europe in facing up to new development threats. In our region, in parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, there are countries that are as poor as any in Africa. And in some of these countries, the HIV/AIDS virus is beginning to gain a foothold. It is tightening its grip and spreading at a fast rate among young people. Some of these countries are on the edge of a precipice. If they do not fight against the disease now they face economic and social catastrophe. These countries are on our doorstep. We in Europe cannot ignore their plight. If they descend further into poverty, if their social systems are undermined, we will not be immune from the consequences.

That is why I am convening a high level Ministerial meeting in Dublin in February next year, in association with Minister Michael Martin, to talk about the fight against AIDS in the European and Central Asian region. Over 50 Ministers from the region will be invited. We want to promote cooperation and partnership across all of these countries against a disease which is a threat to us all. This will be one of the largest and most significant meetings to take place in Ireland during our Presidency. We will work hard to focus the attention of our EU partners, of the Commission and of the Governments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia on this new challenge. And facing up to development challenges is what Irish Aid, the Government’’s official programme of development aid, is all about.

In taking Irish Aid forward into this new century, I want to update and modernise our aid programme. Over the past decade Ireland has seen huge changes. Our rapid economic progress has been based on our use of new technologies to increase productivity, to increase exports and to drive economic growth.

Internationally Ireland is now identified with the Information and Communications industry. We have Intel, Hewlett Packard, Ericsson, Microsoft, Dell, Oracle and hundreds of other international and national IT and communications firms. We are one of the leaders in Europe in the introduction of e-Government. Development cooperation cannot remain isolated from the IT revolution. Developing countries are crying out for help. They too want to use information and communications technology to grow and to reduce poverty. And they are looking to Ireland for leadership and assistance. I have established a Task Force on Information and Communications Technology and Development. It will report next month. The Task Force will recommend how Irish Aid can work with our IT sector and with NGOs in using these new technologies in poor countries. I see this report as a first step in the modernisation of our aid programme.

There are other measures we have to take. At a national level we see public-private partnerships as a new and innovative way to deal with key national challenges such as infrastructure and transport. Irish Aid must also deepen its links with the Irish private sector. We must use the huge pool of talent and expertise here in Ireland. Our IT experts, our financial service providers, our scientists and our managers are a huge resource which our national aid programme cannot ignore. I intend to establish a Private Sector Forum. This will bring Irish Aid and the private sector together. The Forum will give our globalised private sector an insight into the challenges facing poor countries. It will give Irish Aid access to private sector know-how. It will be another step in the modernisation of the aid programme.
 
The Government’’s programme of development cooperation grew out of the activities of Irish NGOs and Missionaries. It has drawn on the spirit of voluntarism in Ireland which has made such a huge contribution to development, particularly in Africa. As Ireland became richer, there were fears that voluntarism was in decline. It was said we were now too selfish and too busy to give some of our free time to helping others. The magnificent achievement of the Special Olympics has given the lie to that claim. I saw myself how thousands of people used up their holidays, devoted months of their spare time, took special leave from their jobs to make sure that the games were a success.And I know that this spirit of voluntarism is strong among young people in the private sector, in the universities, in industry. At all levels of society there are people who want to help. I want to capture that spirit of voluntarism and harness it to help in the fight against extreme poverty.

In the coming months, I will be working hard on a new initiative. This will bring voluntarism into the 21st century. It will give Irish Aid a new and exciting role. I want us to reach out to the many volunteer organisations, to support them in their work, to provide advice, funding and guidance. I want Irish Aid to lead the way in capturing that strong spirit of voluntarism that was so strongly displayed at the Special Olympics. Capture it and use it to help the people who have nothing, whose lives are a daily struggle to survive.

Our objective of lifting the poor out of poverty will not be achieved unless human rights are placed at the centre of development. Ireland's programme of development cooperation emphasises the importance of human rights, of supporting defenders of human rights in countries such as Burma, of promoting free and fair elections throughout Africa, of ensuring that Governments govern for their people and not for the self selected few.
Here in Ireland, the importance of human rights is central to the preservation of a fair and humane society. I have strongly defended the human rights of people with disabilities. Ireland has been strongly supportive of the effort at the UN to negotiate an international Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and I am determined that we continue to play a central role in this area.

These are my objectives for the coming year……..

11th October 2003