asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his Government's policy on official development assistance; his views on whether the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product is acceptable; and the policy, if any, his Government have for attaining the target on a progressive annual basis.

22.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the date at which he expects Ireland to reach the United Nations target for overseas development assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 22 together.

Successive Governments have accepted the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of GNP for official development assistance, but no date has been set for its attainment. It will be reached as soon as economic circumstances permit.

Can the Minister give an assurance to the House that the Government are committed to the attainment of that optimum figure of 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Product? The Minister indicated that he wishes to be sincere in his replies but the action to date from the Government——

That is not relevant now, Deputy. This is Question Time.

In 1981 and again this year with Fianna Fáil in Government and in charge of the national purse strings, there is a reduction in that amount.

The Deputy seems to be anxious to impart information rather than to seek it. A question, please.

Can the Minister tell me if the Government are committed to the United Nations figure of 0.7 per cent because their actions to date indicate quite clearly that they are not?

The difficulty is, as the Deputy appreciates, that a reasonable level of official development assistance is dependent on the prosperity and economic expansion of the western world, including Ireland. Unfortunately, these targets were fixed around the time the downward recession started in western Europe. If economic aspects improve I will be very sympathetic to what the Deputy is saying. The Deputy is well aware of our own difficulties as of now. Therefore, we have to be careful about any expenditure which is undertaken.

The previous Government were also under the same financial pressures and they gave an annual increase in keeping with that directive.

Is the Minister satisfied that the level of overseas development aid this year, almost in line with what was given last year, is adequate given the very severe problems the developing countries are suffering at present? We cannot compare our problems with those of the developing countries. Can the Minister indicate why a sum of £1.1 million was deducted from the target already set by the outgoing Government?

We did so for the obvious reason of seeking to get our own budget into order. When we get our budget and finances into order and get a degree of expansion in our economy we can have another look at an improvement under this heading.

Has the Minister's Department any plans to change the countries which are the targets of overseas development aid during the course of his term of office? Some of the overseas development agencies are anxious to be able to move out of Africa and into some of the Asian countries. Can the Minister tell us if he is considering this?

Yes, we are keeping a watch on the whole spectrum but generally the African, South American and Central American countries are the ones most in need. I know there are exceptions to what I am going to say in the Asian areas but certainly the far eastern part of Asia contains many very prosperous economies whose GNPs are increasing at a far greater rate than in any western economy.