Sir, – To date, the Government has said that Ireland will keep its promise on overseas aid “as soon as economic circumstances allow”. Surely the message from the Government is that our circumstances have now changed from austerity to recovery? And would honouring a commitment that we have made countless times and reneged upon three times not be the ultimate illustration that Ireland means business?
In a small, open economy, our recovery needs the global community to be stable, secure and rules based. And Ireland’s overseas aid provides the foundations for such a world order, by enabling an active, educated, healthy, global workforce and by laying the foundations for stable governments in our partner countries.
An investment in overseas aid now would signal that we are serious about investing in the future. – Yours, etc,
HANS ZOMER,
Director,
Dóchas,
Baggot Court,
Dublin 2.