Madam, - I read with interest the recent piece by Richard Whelan on the effectiveness of Irish overseas aid, particularly his comments on the recently published Commitment to Development Index (Opinion, May 19th). In response I should like to make the following points:
The Commitment to Development Index is not a measurement of aid effectiveness, as the headline implied. It is, in the words of the authors of the report in Foreign Policy magazine, an index which seeks "to rank rich nations according to how their policies help or hinder economic and social development in poor countries".
The index covers seven policy areas of which development aid is just one. The other six are investment, migration, environment, security, technology and trade.
With regard to the development aid component of the index, there is a fundamental flaw in the use of statistics relating to Ireland's Official Development Assistance (ODA). This has resulted in a complete misrepresentation of our policy approach. The compilers of the index state that Ireland funds 404 individual projects in Tanzania and that these place a huge reporting requirement on the Tanzanian authorities. This is simply not true.
Ireland does not fund individual projects in Tanzania. Official Irish assistance there is pooled with that of other donor countries to maximise the impact in improving basic social services such as education and health for the poorest sections of the population. I believe that the Washington-based Centre for Global Development, which compiled the index, misinterpreted statistical material about our aid flows. I am requesting the centre to make a correction to the report.
Development Cooperation Ireland uses the regular reviews of donor agencies conducted by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) as the external benchmark of its performance. The most recent such review, published in November 2003, endorsed our policy approach and made clear that our national aid programme is in line with best international practice.
As part of the review process last year the DAC sent a team to Tanzania to examine our programme on the ground. It concluded: "Ireland is a strong performer in putting partnership approaches into practice in its programme countries. Ireland is regarded as an agile and flexible donor by its partners in Tanzania. . .Support for ownership underlies Ireland's strong support for pooled funding arrangements and harmonisation of donor procedures."
The Commitment to Development Index is a welcome addition to international efforts to assess how broad Government policies, including ODA, affect developing countries. I have, however, some reservations about the methodology used in compiling the index and on the conclusions drawn in a number of areas.
For example, in the area of technology the index awards points for research and development expenditure as a percentage of GDP. It discounts points awarded for defence-related research expenditure by half. It is not clear why up to 50 per cent of defence-related research in rich countries is of benefit to poor developing countries.
On security, the index awards points for contributions to peacekeeping or "forcible humanitarian interventions" approved by the UN Security Council or NATO. This approach would not be in line with Irish Government policy.
I will raise these and other concerns directly with the centre in Washington. In the meantime, I hope these clarifications serve to underline that the Government's aid programme is effective, that it is contributing strongly to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, to the development of health systems and to providing basic education.
It also enjoys the strong support of the internationally recognised arbiter of development aid programmes, the OECD's Development Assistance Committee.
For more information on the work of Development Cooperation Ireland and to download the 2003 OECD DAC Peer Review, please go to: www.dci.gov.ie. - Yours, etc.,
TOM KITT, TD, Minister of State for Development Co-operation and Human Rights, Dáil Éireann, Dublin 2.