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Foreign Affairs Committee 5/11/2008

Senator Daly:Most questions have already been asked. I pay tribute to Mr. Gallagher, who is a man of great ability. A recently published book stated he came from the most impoverished county in Ireland. In the same paragraph it stated how Kerrymen and one Kerryman in particular lacked a great degree of tact. As a Kerryman with little tact, the only advice I could give him on his retirement is a Kerry saying that the key to a successful retirement is to know how to spend time without spending money.

I am my party’s spokesperson for overseas development in the Seanad. We have a very large overseas development budget relative to the rest of the world. My colleague has spoken about our ability to promote this in Ireland at a time when the budget is decreasing all around us. In recent years in Zambia along with the Dutch our work has produced 6,000 teachers each year with the Zambian Department of Education. In the current economic climate how do we get that message to taxpayers, who might feel that money might be better spent at home, with which I disagree? Obviously our overseas development budget is an important part of Ireland’s commitment to the world.