As the Taoiseach will be aware, the main issue to dominate tomorrow's G8 summit in Scotland will be the effort to solve the plight of the people of Africa. It is worth bearing in mind that, in every ten minutes we speak in the House today, 60 children will have died of a vaccine-preventable illness and 80 babies under a month will die worldwide. A woman in the developing world will die every second in childbirth. Every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria. Six thousand people will die today from an AIDS-related illness. By the end of this year, just like every year, whooping cough will have killed 300,000 children, and diarrhoea will have killed 600,000 more under the age of five.

The Taoiseach and his Government obviously cannot prevent these tragedies from occurring. However, I am annoyed that in September 2000, with no election in sight, he made a solemn commitment to the UN Assembly, before the eyes of the world, that the Government would achieve the UN target of 0.7% of GDP by 2007. He made this commitment based on the information available to him with the consent of his Government and on behalf of the people of Ireland. When it became politically expedient for the Government to break that promise, it did so.

This country can be very proud of the outstanding work done by our NGOs which dispense aid all over the world. It is a pity that our reputation in the eyes of the world is now being besmirched by the fact the Taoiseach broke the promise he made on behalf of the people and the Government. Some time ago, he stated in the House that his job was to answer questions when asked. In light of this, let me ask him a question now: when will this Government achieve the Taoiseach's commitment to donate 0.7% of GDP in overseas development aid? Why has he postponed making a decision on this matter until some time before September, at which time the House will not be sitting and at which time there will be no opportunity to raise these matters with him? If the Taoiseach's job is to answer questions, he should state when the Government will make this announcement.

As I stated previously, I would like Ireland to be the number one subscriber to overseas development aid in the world. We lie at about number seven or eight in the world. This is an extraordinary achievement for this country and everybody should be proud of it. We subscribe the better part of €600 million towards overseas development aid, more than the entire capital programme for health in this country. Every year we are increasing our overseas development aid package by a vast amount. In the last budget, the first by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, a €1.8 billion package for overseas development aid for the next three years was outlined.

I am thankful that we are now able to help NGOs to do their job. They cannot do it without the money. I am proud that under the Governments I have led, we have increased our overseas development aid contribution from €150 million to over €600 million. With the packages that have been announced, this will amount to approximately €700 million by 2007.

Much short of the promised amount.

I would have liked to have——

The Taoiseach should just answer the question.

——had the ability to reach the target of 0.7% but——

Why did the Taoiseach make the promise?

——because of growth levels and all the necessary adjustments, we would have had to be contributing sums of approximately €200 million to achieve it.

It did not——

I am trying to answer the Deputy's leader's question.

He is not answering it.

Allow the Taoiseach, please.

The Deputies should respect their leader and let me answer the question.

The reality is that this country has slipped back far less than any other country. The United States of America, the biggest economy in the world, has no target.

I do not believe it.

The United Kingdom——

George Bush. He is in touch with the world.

Allow the Taoiseach to contribute without interruption.

Soundbites get in the way of facts. People hate facts in this House.

George Bush.

The United Kingdom, which is being held up in lights at present in respect of the G8 summit — I wish them well — has a lower target than ours. It is not contributing the kinds of resources we are contributing, nor has it made the kinds of strides we have made. France is totally ambivalent. This country——

The Taoiseach broke his promise.

Deputy Gormley should note the question was posed by Fine Gael, of which he is not a member.

This country should be very proud, as I am, of its record on overseas development aid.

Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach broke his promise.

I look forward to the discussion on the millennium goals in September and to reporting that Ireland, which has 1% of the population of Europe, can stand as one of the highest in Europe in terms of its ability and achievement regarding overseas development aid.

Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach broke his promise.

It was a breach of a promise.

I am not talking about France, the United Kingdom or the United States but about the Taoiseach, who made a solemn commitment before the eyes of the world that the Government would achieve the target of 0.7% of GDP by 2007. The Taoiseach knew the implications when he made that commitment and was promised before that he would get a seat on the Security Council. What is the value of his word? What does his word mean? What did it mean in terms of the health services where €50 billion has been spent since 1997 and yet there were 257 patients lying on trolleys around the country yesterday? What does his word mean in terms of the commitment given for 2,000 extra gardaí? The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is smirking but he should have been listening to the public speak in Raheny last night.

What does the Taoiseach's word mean in terms of broken promises on class sizes which the current Minister for Education and Science now terms a noble aspiration? What does it mean when the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform says the release of the murderers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe will be the happiest day of his life? What does the Taoiseach's word mean in terms of the 34 stealth taxes imposed on consumers of this country?

The Deputy must restrict his questions to topical issues.

This morning we listened on radio to the reprehensible conduct of the Minister for Foreign Affairs who talked about decisions with regard to the target of 0.7% as against seatbelts on school buses.

The Deputy's time has concluded. The Chair is on its feet. Leaders' Questions are confined to one issue and not a number of issues.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for reminding me of this. The central question is the value of the Taoiseach's word. Promise after promise and commitment after commitment have been broken. How can we believe anything from this Government when, in respect of the poorest people in the world, the Taoiseach stood up in front of the eyes and nations of the world and said we would achieve our target by 2007? Not only has he let down the poorest in the world, he has let down people here at home. Promises and commitments have no value because his word no longer counts for anything.

The Taoiseach should answer the question.

I will have to ask Deputy Gormley to leave the House if he interrupts again.

We have delivered substantially to overseas development aid. Some €150 million had been delivered when I came to power, and this figure is heading towards €700 million which is a huge achievement. There has been a commitment of €1.8 billion over a three year period which helps NGOs do their job, enables them to provide services and allows us to go into new countries such as East Timor.

Unlike most places in the world, Ireland should be very proud that it does not have tied aid. Former President Clinton said he would like the US to have done half of what we did. It is amazing that people all over the world recognise what Ireland has done for overseas aid. Yes, we decreased our percentage but I did not know in August 2000, when the economy was growing by 11%, that it would only grow by 1% a year later. However, we still continued to provide untied aid at a rate not achieved by anybody else in the world.

Deputy Michael D. Higgins speaks so much and so well on the issue. However, he must remember what his Government did. It reversed the figure.

The Taoiseach was the Minister for Finance at that time and was always against it.

The Deputy's party had the worst record with regard to overseas aid. It was absolutely terrible and did nothing.

I would not go down that road.

The Taoiseach without interruption. The Taoiseach should direct his remarks through the Chair.

On a point of order——

There will be no point of order on Leaders' Questions.

The Taoiseach has chosen to mislead the House on development aid. He was always against it. That is the truth.

Deputy Michael D. Higgins should resume his seat.

He wrote it in his election programme and the social partnership programme.

I am confident this country will remain at the highest level, and will be one of the first to achieve the target of 0.7%.

You did better than your friend, President Bush.