Ireland had the fastest-growing overseas development budget in the OECD but the issue was to ensure the money was spent effectively, Mr David Begg, the chief executive of Concern, said yesterday.
Mr Begg was addressing the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs. Senator Michael Lanigan, chairing the committee, said the submission would be of value to it when reviewing the Irish aid programme.
Mr Begg said governments in other countries were the most important factor in whether any action was taken on aid.
He gave as examples Sierra Leone and Liberia which, he said, were extremely wealthy in natural resources but the circumstances of ordinary people there were appallingly bad.
"The reality for people is so bad but if we abandon them it is difficult to see what their future will hold," he said.
Irish Government policy tried to focus on countries with the best prospects of good government. However, if they looked at some of the priority countries, very few had a level of democracy acceptable in Western countries.
A team of five Concern workers had to withdraw from Burundi in the past week because of fighting there, Mr Begg said.
It was a country in very great need and this was an example of the difficulties non-governmental organisations confronted.
"We have to stay engaged as best we can and be involved and try to build democracies," Mr Begg added.
Mr Begg said his main criticism of EU policy, as outlined in the Contonou agreement, was a lack of focus on poverty.