Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is to hold talks with the Canadian prime minister Paul Martin today at which they will discuss development aid issues and the reform of UN structures.
Mr Martin, who is on a two-day visit to Ireland before heading to Edinburgh for the G8 summit tomorrow, will meet Mr Ahern for private talks at Government buildings, followed by a working lunch.
One key issue to be discussed is development aid, which is at the centre of the G8 agenda in Scotland later this week.
Both men are under pressure domestically over their respective countries aid commitment. Mr Martin has been forced to defend Canada’s allocation of 0.26 per cent of GDP to compared to the UN 0.7 per cent target.
He recently condemned countries for making empty promises to obtain "favourable headlines".
"Rather than trying to set grand and glorious targets a long way out, my own view is that you should set achievable targets in the short term that people can measure you by, especially if you don't achieve them," he said.
However, the Taoiseach would appear to fall into that category. As part of Ireland’s campaign to get a seat on the UN security council in 2000, Mr Ahern committed Ireland to achieving 0.7 per cent by 2007, however, it now seems certain the target will not be met before 2012 at the earliest.
Ireland’s current allocation is 0.41 per cent this year with a target of 0.42 per cent next year.
Mr Martin, meanwhile, was strongly criticised by Irish campaigner Bob Geldof who told a Canadian newspaper that Mr Martin should "just stay at home" rather than attend the G8, after the premier had made positive soundings about aid to Africa.
"The poorest, the most weak, the mute, the powerless, the beaten down, the trod upon, the hungry, the sick and the dispossessed are not yet of the highest priority to this government," Geldof told the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Some observers speculate that Mr Martin will answer his critics at Gleneagles by committing Canada to a date for meeting the 0.7 percent target. But the prime minister's aides have strenuously denied the claims. "Canada will not be presenting a set of announcements. There won't be a package," one of his officials said yesterday.
The Canadian government has said that reaching 0.7 per cent by 2015, the international target date, will be almost impossible.
Additional reporting Reuters