292. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 73 of 26 Mach 2026, the reason she did not answer the second part of the questions asking if her attention has been drawn to the fact that her Department, through Irish Aid, consistently allocated funding to States and territories who engage in the most extreme forms of Christian persecution; her views on whether this is appropriate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25129/26]

Ireland’s bilateral assistance programmes are delivered in countries where Christians are free to practice their faith. The protection and promotion of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression and protection of religious and other minorities, are core to Ireland's foreign policy. The Government strongly condemns all forms of persecution based on religion or belief, including instances where Christians face persecution for exercising the right to practice their faith.

The Government's development cooperation programme, Irish Aid, is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and focuses on reaching the furthest behind first in the world’s Least Developed Countries, most of which are in Africa. Key partner countries include Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Kenya and Liberia.

Ireland does not provide direct general budget support to Governments. Our assistance is channelled through a range of partners, including international organisations and local and international NGOs. It is targeted to address the needs of the furthest behind including in health, education, nutrition and livelihoods. We provide annual funding of over €15 million for Misean Cara to support Irish missionary organisations’ development and humanitarian work.

Our aid programme supports and empowers countries and communities in their development, often in difficult environments. For example, in parts of Nigeria there is a high level of insecurity and violence, the causes of which are multifaceted. Some of the violence arises from conflict over access to land between nomadic herders, who are mainly Muslim, and settled farmers, who are mainly Christian. Parts of Nigeria have also been badly affected by the actions of terrorist groups whose tactics have included violence and abduction.

In 2025, we provided over €2.4 million in humanitarian and development support for those affected by conflict in Nigeria. Most of this was channelled through two partners - the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance and Misean Cara. Over €800,000 was provided to Misean Cara for missionary-led projects on health, education, human rights, nutrition, gender-based violence, and community capacity building.