Row over overseas aid shortfall

Madam, - This week thousands of Irish people will deny themselves a day's food for one of our country's best traditions - the…

Madam, - This week thousands of Irish people will deny themselves a day's food for one of our country's best traditions - the annual Concern fast. Anyone who has participated will confirm how easy it is to raise money, because very few people are hard-hearted enough to deny third-world citizens the money they need to survive.

There are the Scrooge-like exceptions - and it an embarrassment to say that our cash-rich Government is the most culpable exception of all. Conor Lenihan's recent announcement that it intends to abandon its commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of our national wealth on aid to the poorest countries by 2007 amounts to a cowardly brand of genocide. As Trócaire's Justin Kilcullen asks: "How rich do we need to become before we keep our promise to the world's poorest people?" At the UN Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, Bertie Ahern denounced the failure of rich states to reach the 0.7 per cent target as "shameful" and "indefensible".

That is exactly what it is. It is also an insult to the children and adults who will fast over the next couple of days. And while it may not be enough to make us ashamed to be Irish - we commendably embrace the Concern Fast and other third world initiatives each year - it should certainly make us ashamed of our Government. - Yours, etc.,

SEAMUS LYNCH, Seaview, Portrane, Co Dublin.

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Madam, - An unfortunate received wisdom is growing up around the 0.7 per cent target for overseas development aid. The line is that Ireland cannot give any more because it is too rich! Is this socialism, Bertie style? Because the figure is expressed as a percentage of national wealth, it is becoming harder to to reach, goes the Government line. This is plainly ridiculous and completely contrary to the whole purpose of the UN target.

The reason the figure is expressed in a percentage term is precisely because different countries are in different economic situations. It was designed to remove aid from the year-to-year budgetary struggles in all Western countries. So if you are wealthier you pay more, if you are poorer you pay less. - Yours, etc.,

MICHAEL McLOUGHLIN, Riverwood Heath, Castleknock, Dublin 15.