Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2026
86. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps her Department is taking to reach the 0.7% goal for overseas development aid; and the engagements she has had with other EU member states on increasing their aid budgets. [69073/26]
View answerThe Government remains committed to the United Nations target to provide 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) in Official Development Assistance (ODA). This commitment was reaffirmed in A Better World, Ireland's international development policy and in the Programme for Government which commits to increases in ODA, towards the 0.7% target.
Ireland’s total Official Development Assistance (ODA) amounted to €1.88 billion in 2025, representing 0.44% of Gross National Income (GNI). In recent years, the Government has consistently increased the allocation for the Irish Aid programme managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which works to address the needs of some of the world’s poorest or most climate-exposed countries and communities and those living in areas affected by conflict.
The Budget 2026 allocation for the programme was just over €840 million, the highest ever in the 52-year history of Ireland's development programme. Ahead of Budget 2027, I am working with colleagues to ensure an ODA allocation which can continue to deliver on Ireland’s commitment to playing our role in the fight to end global poverty and hunger and to reaching the furthest behind first.
We have ensured a strong focus on development cooperation and humanitarian assistance during our EU Presidency, both in internal EU discussions and at the United Nations.
During the UN General Assembly High Level Week meetings last week in New York, I convened Development Ministers and senior representatives from EU member states and like-minded partner countries for a strategic discussion on the future of international development cooperation.
Participants discussed pressures on development budgets and the importance of maintaining public support for development cooperation. We will take these issues up again at the informal meeting of EU Development Ministers which I will chair in Dublin on 8-9 October and at the formal meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (Development) in Brussels on 1 December.
