Ireland’s funding of overseas development aid will triple to more than €3 billion by 2030, new figures confirm.
Fine Gael Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Colm Brophy, has confirmed that the Government remains committed to increasing the current Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget from the current spend of €1.044 billion to €3.350 billion by 2030.
Minister Brophy said that the Programme for Government provides a commitment to making “incremental, sustainable progress towards achieving the UN target of spending 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA by 2030.”
In Budget 2022, €1.044 billion was allocated to Official Development Assistance (ODA), the highest ever amount allocated by any Government.
This is an increase of €176 million on the 2021 allocation of €867 million or, in percentage terms, a 20 percent increase in the overall cash allocation.
The information was supplied in response to a parliamentary question from the Independent TD for Laois Offaly, and member of the Dáil Rural Independent Group, Carol Nolan.
Minister of State Brophy went on to note that while the increased allocation for this year is significant, sustained increases in funding will be required if the 0.7% target is to be met. He further noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs, which accounts for approximately 60% of ODA expenditure, is currently “reviewing and building systems that will enable our development programme grow further, including as a proportion of GNI, in a sustainable and responsible way.”
The Minister said “this also includes working in coordination with other Government Departments and bodies involved in spending Official Development Assistance, and with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, on how a growing ODA allocation can be managed most effectively and responsibly across all Departments. This work informs the path to 0.7% for 2030 considering inflation and the current trends in the economy.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs has previously charted out an indicative pathway to reaching the target of €3.350 billion.
However, he concluded by observing that the numbers in the indicative pathway will change depending on a number of factors, including annual allocations to ODA and economic growth and ‘evolving Gross National Income (GNI) growth’:
