Joint Foreign Affairs Committee - 13th February 2008 - Irish Aid Annual Report 2006

Joint Foreign Affairs Committee - 13th February 2008 - Irish Aid Annual Report 2006

Senator David Norris: I am glad the Minister of State and his advisers have found the time to attend today. The appointment of the Minister of State was extremely appropriate. I had the pleasure of serving with him in Seanad Éireann and I know of the genuine commitment and passion which both he and his brother have for these issues. I found many of the earlier contributions interesting, including Deputy Shatter’s. I was intrigued by his implicit call for a return to empire, which is something that should be examined closely by this committee.

Deputy Alan Shatter: I was merely citing a fact in the context of the economic work being done. I was not suggesting anyone should again colonise anybody. Senator Norris can never resist the opportunity to misrepresent something I said. It is becoming something of a political addiction on the Senator’s part.

Senator David Norris: I am following in the glorious tradition of Deputy Shatter, who has made an entire political career out of that approach, and today’s contribution was a remarkable instance of it. I believe it is an important issue and I deprecate mean-minded attempts to use this committee to stifle the expression of a viewpoint by raising questions concerning the funding of organisations which are extremely reputable. I was present at the meeting Christian Aid attended and its spokespersons condemned suicide bombings, which Deputy Shatter heard.

Deputy Alan Shatter: I was referring to the report it published.

Senator David Norris: Let us not have any more of that nonsense. The report was a fine report and was balanced. I have got to know the part of the world to which it refers quite well over the past 35 years and have actually visited the area with Christian Aid. I strongly urge the Minister of State to continue to provide funding.
Deputy Shatter raises relevant questions in regard to the prudent management of Irish Aid. There must be a balance and one must listen to the voices of both Deputy Shatter and Deputy Higgins who has wide experience in this issue. There is no doubt about the regimes in Uganda and Ethiopia. Some of the countries to which we have referred have a very large prison population, which gives rise to human rights issues, in circumstances where the infrastructure is so depleted that they are incapable of providing prisoners with what international authorities, including the WHO, regard as the minimum required subsistence nourishment. Prisoners must be fed, if it is possible at all, from outside and that indicts all of us. It is a very real human rights issue.
It is very difficult to deal with issues such as that arising in Darfur and the Irish Government is trying to take an honourable stand. I very much welcome the action of Steven Spielberg in removing himself from the advisory committee on the Beijing Olympic Games because of the situation in Darfur. Such a public stance, taken by an international celebrity, is very important and must be put in the context of attempts by the British Olympic committee to stifle comment by any of their athletes, which is very regrettable. Can the Minister of State comment on that?
I very much welcome the increasing percentage of GNP we now devote to this area. However, our position is becoming weaker all the time because we have the attitude that by making aid available we can gain leverage with some of these regimes, many of which are very corrupt. It is being undermined consistently and in a massive way by the colonialist and imperialist adventures of the People’s Republic of China. That country is in the market with much more money than we have and a huge appetite for the natural resources of the continent of Africa. It has no qualms whatever about dealing directly with tyrants and dictators, handing over enormous sums of money in exchange for the raw materials it needs for its expanding economy. This greatly reduces our leverage because these unrepresentative governments can say, “We do not need you. We have cobalt. We have diamonds. We will flog them to the Chinese.” This is a serious political problem and I ask the Minister of State to comment.
The situation in East Timor was first raised by Deputy Deasy and it is very worrying. We have had José Ramos-Horta in Dublin on numerous occasions. He has had meetings with this committee and he worked very closely over the years with Tom Hyland. Will the Minister of State indicate the degree of contact with Mr. Hyland? I had a couple of meetings with him after Christmas when he was here. Does he have any official standing? Is Ireland still in contact with him? The legitimate government of Horta and Xanana Guzmao deserves as much international and visible support as possible because there are discordant, disgruntled elements from Fretilin and the rest of them. We need to show solidarity.
I also welcome the opening of the information centre in O’Connell Street. I am being slightly parochial because it is just around the corner from where I live. It is quite striking. Just last night I was passing it and saw a very large video display which is eye-catching. People are drawn towards these issues by virtue of that video display.
I want to return to one of my various obsessions which is population. The enormous explosion in population is one of the issues that underlies a great deal of the tensions and the struggle for resources such as minerals or basic resources such as water. It has an impact on health and on human rights. I also commend the Government for its continued support of the UNFPA and its Irish representative group.
I draw the Minister of State’s attention to the existence within the Oireachtas of the all-party interest group on sexual reproductive health rights, population and development. This is a key area, in particular the question of population and its links to development and health. Very often they are ignored and undermined. I welcome the support of the Government. Irish Aid’s health policy mentions universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. This is very significant and very important, particularly in the case of countries retreating from these points. I ask the Minister of State to consider attending one of the meetings of this all-party Oireachtas group, particularly with regard to the population issues, the right to reproductive and sexual health and rights and the question of maternal and infant mortality in these countries.
I also refer to the squalid and horrible practice of female genital mutilation that continues in these countries and the impact this should have on issues of human rights and asylum. It is not a simple black and white question. We cannot undertake to receive as asylum-seekers every person who finds themselves in this situation.
I hope I did not take up too much time but as it is now only 9.35 a.m. we have plenty of time left before lunch.

Chairman: We know what to do with the clocks for the next meeting.