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Oxfam Ireland press statement on cut in Ireland’s aid budget

Oxfam Ireland deplores today’s cut in Ireland's aid budget

“Oxfam Ireland deplores today’s €100 million cut in Ireland's aid budget and calls for an immediate reversal of this decision. With this cut, our government's promise to the world’s poorest people rings hollow. This is the fourth cut in 10 months – demonstrating that the Irish Government sees the aid budget as a soft target. This cut will have a devastating impact on vulnerable people who are already struggling to cope with the crushing impacts of the global financial crisis, the food crisis and climate change. These are difficult times for us all but it is not the time to abandon our commitment to tackling poverty and injustice. Ireland's international standing will be damaged even further by this decision to turn its back on the world’s poorest when they need our assistance most” said Jim Clarken, Chief Executive of Oxfam Ireland.

“Oxfam Ireland deplores today’s €100 million cut in Ireland's aid budget and calls for an immediate reversal of this decision. With this cut, our government's promise to the world’s poorest people rings hollow. This is the fourth cut in 10 months – demonstrating that the Irish Government sees the aid budget as a soft target. This cut will have a devastating impact on vulnerable people who are already struggling to cope with the crushing impacts of the global financial crisis, the food crisis and climate change. These are difficult times for us all but it is not the time to abandon our commitment to tackling poverty and injustice. Ireland's international standing will be damaged even further by this decision to turn its back on the world’s poorest when they need our assistance most” said Jim Clarken, Chief Executive of Oxfam Ireland.

Note to Editors:

Today's cut of €100 million in the Government aid budget is the fourth cut in just ten months. The previous cut this January was 10% of the aid budget for 2009, bring the total cut for this year to €195 million.

Rich countries have spent trillions bailing out the banking system. Meanwhile poor country governments are faced with declining export revenues and remissions from abroad as well as rising unemployment.

The World Bank estimates that an additional 53 million people are already expected to be trapped in poverty in 2009.

The ILO estimates that two hundred million more workers worldwide, mostly in the developing world, could be pushed into extreme poverty this year if the situation deteriorates further.

These cuts are already having an impact on those living in poverty. Oxfam Ireland, for example, has already had to drastically scale back its support for hundreds of thousands of people due to a reduction of funds available for humanitarian work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur and South Sudan.

For interviews with Jim Clarken please contact Oxfam Ireland's media executive Paul Dunphy on 0879058075