asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the main areas where cutbacks in Overseas Development Co-Opeation and International Co-Operation will be applied; the reason the provision for disaster relief has been cut from £505,000 this year to £1,000 next year; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

33.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give details of the way in which he will distribute the £1,000 grant-in-aid, allocated to disaster relief in the 1988 Estimates for international co-operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 33 together.

A token allocation of £1,000 has been provided for disaster relief in 1988. This is a technical device which allows the possibility of making an allocation provided funds are available elsewhere on the Vote for International Cooperation.

Comparing the 1988 Estimates with those of 1987 the main areas where cut backs are being made in Official Development Assistance are:

Bilateral Assistance reduced by £4.67 million (27%); Contributions to EC reduced by £3.50 million (22%) and Contributions to the UN World Bank Group reduced by £2.92 million (32%).