A government politician has stated that he \u201cabhors\u201d the view that Irish taxpayer money should be spent on domestic crises before being sent overseas.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a Joint Committee on European Union Affairs debate on Wednesday, Fine Gael Tipperary South TD Michael Murphy asked for evidence to show taxpayers that foreign development assistance provides a \u201ctangible benefit\u201d to Ireland.<\/p>\n
The TD raised the issue of public commentary suggesting that state funds should be prioritised for domestic issues like the housing crisis and healthcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a view that people watching and listening today may have a housing crisis, a health-related issue, scarce resources or pressures at home, and a view that we should be spending this money at home, first and foremost, and not spending money overseas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be very clear. I abhor that particular view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy then asked officials to explain the concrete advantages of international development spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we demonstrate to the Irish taxpayer that development assistance overseas is not simply an act of generosity and that there is a tangible benefit to Ireland and the European Union in terms of investing in stability, food security, health and development elsewhere?\u201d Murphy asked.<\/p>\n
Responding to the TD, Michael Gaffey, who is the director general of the Africa division at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, noted that public support for overseas aid is currently strong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe in Ireland know that there is strong support for our work and the work of development assistance,\u201d Gaffey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll surveys show that it is over 70%, it is about 73% at the moment. However, I would not be complacent about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy interjected to agree with the assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot take that support for granted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The director general agreed, adding that Ireland\u2019s future prosperity is linked to its global engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly,\u201d Gaffey replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would not be complacent about that for a second\u2026We have to answer these questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
He argued that Ireland cannot isolate itself from the international community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland\u2019s continued prosperity depends on our engagement in the world, obviously through trade, but I would argue also through our work with developing countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe respond to the need in developing countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaffey noted that addressing needs in developing nations, particularly in Africa, has long-term benefits for the European Union.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is that if we, in collaboration with partners, can address that need and help countries to empower themselves\u2026 it will have an impact in the future on the building up of those economies, on developing new trading partners and on addressing migration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say it is obvious in the context of Africa. We have argued strongly within the EU that the EU and Africa need to work together as partners because their development is tied together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official went on to outline a specific ongoing programme in northern Uganda focused on girls\u2019 education.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen over the past decade or two the impact this is having on girls who could not go to school, who were married off early and who had no life other than to try and rear children in enormously poor circumstances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are now developing. They have education. They are getting secondary education and are demanding third level education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaffey suggested that such initiatives create stability that ultimately deters \u201cirregular\u201d migration, i.e. illegal migration to Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn just that one example we can see over decades\u2026 that there will be opportunities for Ireland and that people will not be forced to come and live here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do recognise the importance of migration but we also recognise that irregular migration suits neither those who are forced out of their countries nor those countries which cannot cope with them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A government politician has stated that he \u201cabhors\u201d the view that Irish taxpayer money should be spent on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14258,4990,113,176,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-628860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-ben-scallan","tag-economics","tag-economy","tag-finance","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}