Foreign Affairs | Support of bilateral aid

To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent of the level of bilateral aid currently supported by this country; the locations at which this aid is targeted worldwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The Government’s international development policy, A Better World, is strongly focused on addressing the needs of countries and communities which are the furthest behind, with an emphasis on those in the world’s poorest or climate exposed regions, especially women and girls. Ireland’s programme of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is a central element of our foreign policy.  For 2023, the Government has provided over €1.23 billion in ODA, in order to respond to the complex human needs caused by poverty, hunger, conflict and climate change.  This is the highest allocation ever, and a 17% increase on last year’s allocation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs reports to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on overall expenditure on ODA,  against a set of internationally agreed statistical standards. The detailed annual report for 2021 was launched in October 2022, and is available to the public on the Irish Aid website. The report includes detailed analysis of bilateral and multilateral assistance, confirming that in 2021  €516.73 million was allocated to bilateral ODA.  The top thirty recipient are listed in the Irish Aid annual report (Link provided: https://www.irishaid.ie/media/irishaid/IrishAid_AR_2021_WEB_V5-FA.pdf)