4. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the assessment her Department has undertaken of the disproportionate impact of global cuts in official development assistance on women's rights organisations and programmes advancing gender equality, including sexual and reproductive health and rights; and the strategic measures Ireland intends to take through its foreign policy to address these funding gaps, particularly for local women's rights organisations. [74642/26]

The Government remains firmly committed to Ireland’s international development cooperation programme and to its overriding priority, to reach the furthest behind first.  Budget 2027 has provided for an allocation of €855 million for the international development programme, Irish Aid, managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, an increase of €14 million on the Budget 2026 allocation.

We have been following the consequences of reductions in ODA announced by some other donor countries.  Preliminary estimates by the OECD have shown that global ODA reduced by up to 23% in 2025, with further reductions expected for 2026 and over the coming years. Least developed countries are projected to see a fall in net bilateral ODA of almost 26%, with countries in sub-Saharan Africa particularly affected.

Our Embassies abroad are monitoring developments, especially in Africa.  The impact is clear in sectors such as global health, including maternal health, and sexual and reproductive health and rights more broadly. I have seen and discussed the effects of these cuts in my visits to Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is a priority for Ireland’s foreign policy. A Better World, Ireland’s policy for international development, commits to the provision of direct funding to gender equality programmes as well as to ensuring the integration of the needs and interests of women and girls across all of our work.  We fund work directly dedicated to supporting women’s political and economic empowerment; girls’ access to quality education; addressing gender based violence; and improving women and girls’ access to reproductive health care.

Ireland advocates for the protection and promotion of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights agenda. This builds on our long-standing commitment to improving maternal health, preventing sexual and gender-based violence, and supporting global efforts to end the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Since 2023, we have increased support to reduce the unmet need for contraception among adolescent girls and young women, including those living in humanitarian crises. These investments help address critical funding gaps and contribute to life-saving services for women and girls in some of the world's most vulnerable communities.

We recognise the vital role played by local women's rights organisations in advancing gender equality and improving health outcomes. Through our support to civil society organisations, multilateral partners, and country programmes, Ireland seeks to strengthen the capacity of locally led organisations and ensure that women and girls remain at the centre of international development efforts, particularly in contexts where funding pressures have intensified.