A Government shift on overseas aid in next month's Budget was signalled by the Government deputy leader in the House, Mr John Dardis (PD).

He was responding to calls for an urgent debate on the proposed aid allocation. Mr Brendan Ryan (Ind) sought, unsuccessfully, an emergency debate on an Opposition motion condemning the aid cuts proposed in the Estimates for 1999 and demanding that substantial progress be made towards the UN target of aid equivalent to 0.7 per cent of gross national product.

Mr Ryan said he did not want his call to be met with arrangements by the Government for statements. There should be a motion for debate in Government time in which Government members would have to vote in favour of the present position which involved cutting back on aid to the poorest people in the world. Mr Pat Gallagher (Lab) had earlier stressed the need to have a debate in time to make an impact on the Government's budgetary strategy.

Mr David Norris (Ind), who backed the debate call, stressed that it was important in terms of the moral prestige of this State that we were not seen to reduce our aid to the poorest people on the planet.

Ms Avril Doyle (FG) said her party would support the call for an immediate debate.

Mr Dardis said it was the Government's intention to move towards a target of 0.45 per cent of gross national product as our contribution towards overseas development aid. It was hardly surprising, he added, that in a time of record growth in the economy, it was very difficult to maintain this percentage at the required level to meet the stated aim. "What's in the Estimates is one thing. What appears in the Budget is something else, and I am quite confident that the senators' wishes and desires will be met in the Budget."