Irish overseas aid up but US cuts devastating
Irish Minister Neale Richmond has criticized the United States for drastic cuts to international aid, labeling the impact as devastating. While Ireland increased its own aid budget, Richmond warned that global aid cuts are contributing to rising health issues and migration crises.
Why it matters
The reduction in US foreign aid has significant geopolitical consequences, affecting global stability and the humanitarian efforts of other nations like Ireland.
Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora Neale Richmond has said the impact of the US drastically cutting its aid to countries has been "devastating".
It comes as Ireland provided €807 million in Overseas Development Aid last year, making it the eighth highest country in the world for delivering aid to countries in need.
Last year's figure marks an increase of €36m from the year before. The figure is the highest ever allocation in the history of the Irish Aid programme.
Mr Richmond said the overall international aid sector is down 23%.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Richmond said that last year, Ireland and Spain "were the only EU countries to increase their aid budget".
"Denmark maintained theirs. Everyone else cut their aid budget," he added.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in