Minister Costello welcomes report praising quality of Irish Aid

Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello, T.D., has welcomed a report rating Irish Aid as the outstanding development aid programme amongst 31 other international donors.

The report on the quality of official development assistance, by the prestigious Brookings Institution, places Irish Aid in the top 4 in each of 4 categories it measures, including efficiency and transparency.

Welcoming the report, Minister Costello said:

“Irish Aid is the only aid programme in the world to reach the top 4 in all 4 categories. We can be very proud of the findings of this report, which shows that in terms of quality, Irish Aid is the world-leading development aid programme. We have always strived to ensure Irish Aid makes a real difference to the lives of the poorest people in the world and this report backs that up. A lot of work has taken place to make our aid programme efficient and transparent and to empower local people to improve their own lives through strengthening institutions on the ground. I want particularly to congratulate all the staff of Irish Aid, whether working at home in Ireland or abroad in our partner countries in some of the poorest regions in the world, for their absolute commitment and dedication".

ENDS

Notes to Editor

• 'The Quality of Official Development Assistance’ a report by the Brookings Institution, is available here.
• The quality of Irish Aid, measured against 30 peer donors, under 4 headings, is as follows: Maximising efficiency (4th); fostering institutions (1st); reducing burden (3rd) and transparency and learning (2nd).
• Irish Aid is the Government’s programme for overseas development. It is managed by the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
• In 2013, the Government provided €637.10 million – a slight increase over 2012 €628.90 million. That’s 0.46% of GNP to ODA.