Now that all the main political parties have published their general election manifestos, it is possible for us to assess them in the context of the Dóchas manifesto.
Just to recap, the Dóchas manifesto has an over-arching ask to publish a clear spending pathway to realise our commitment to 0.7%/GNI on overseas development assistance by 2030.
And then our manifesto has five subsequent asks on ‘Effective and Inclusive Development’ (30% of ODA through civil society); ‘Climate Action’; ‘Hunger’; ‘Peace, Stability & Humanitarian Response’, and ‘Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development’ (PCSD).
Firstly, there is no significant commitment to extra spending on foreign policy (or international climate policy) in any of the political party manifesto costings, where they are detailed, with these partial exceptions:
- The Green Party commits €200m in a ‘typical budget’ to Overseas Aid under the heading “Progress towards 0.7% of national income and at least €500m climate finance”.
- Fianna Fáil lists a €215.1m extra current spending allocation to foreign affairs “in addition to what has already been pre-committed to 2030” - and a €100m capital spending commitment to the “Shared Island” scheme.
- Sinn Féin commit to a €56m increase in current spending and €1m in capital spending in foreign affairs “in addition to precommitted expenditure” (all presumably per annum)
- The Social Democrats indicate other spending of €140 on ‘Climate and Nature’ as an average from 2026-2030 but do not specify any international commitment within that.
Dóchas Manifesto over-arching ask:
Beginning with the 0.7% goal, all of the smaller and opposition parties make commitments to meeting this target - but special mention should go to the Green Party for committing to spending 0.7% on “overseas development aid”, the only party to use the term “overseas”, which it does consistently. The Labour Party use the slightly ambiguous term “0.7% of economic output” while the Social Democrats, Sinn Féin and the Greens use the correct terms, “national income”, or “GNI”. The Social Democrats state most clearly that the aim “to reach 0.7 per cent of national income by 2030 is separate and distinct from the Climate Finance commitments.”
Fine Gael’s use of the term “work towards” 0.7% on ODA inspires a lot less confidence, while Fianna Fáil’s ‘commitment’ to “increase Official Development Aid annually” is equally untargeted. Fine Gael’s manifesto also includes the statement, “Irish taxpayers contribute approximately €2 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA) across government,” a figure greatly inflated by in-donor refugee costs.
Dóchas Manifesto five subsequent asks:
‘Effective and Inclusive Development’
Again, Fianna Fáil’s commitments are vague here but at least contain a commitment to “continue to support humanitarian agencies” under the heading “Helping those furthest behind.” Fine Gael’s manifesto has little such language – with the exception of the phrase “Ensure development aid reaches those in need” in its commendable passage on Sudan.
Labour score well in this section by promising “We will target for 25% of all Irish ODA to be allocated to locally led initiatives in partner countries”; the Social Democrats are less direct but commit to Furthest Behind First aid principles and supporting INGOs; Sinn Féin and the Greens have nothing to say at this level of detail on ODA.
The Social Democrats are strongest on women’s rights in ODA, committing to “Ensuring that Ireland’s international development policy and foreign policy more generally has a focus on women’s rights. Women’s Rights programmes are often poorly funded within Aid Programmes and resourcing feminist movements and women’s rights organisations is essential to delivering on women and girls’ rights.”
Disability rights, minority rights and GBV, by contrast, are not discussed by any party in explicit international development terms.
‘Climate Action’
The Labour Party is again strongest here with its unambiguous commitments to “Work with international partners to deliver on the annual global commitment of $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries, and for an Irish fair share commitment of €500m per year” as well as “work with partners for a stronger and more ambitious loss and damage fund.”
The Green Party is strong on policy and implementation of climate finance by committing “to increasing climate finance to €500 million. Our focus must be on empowering communities to build resilience and adapt to a changing climate without incurring unsustainable debt or tying aid to trade” – as well as on new forms of finance via the Global Solidarity Levies Taskforce. However, the absence of any mention of Loss and Damage in the Green Party manifesto is glaring.
Sinn Féin are silent on climate finance and no significant spending commitment could be discerned under their projected €56m foreign affairs increase.
The Social Democrats are strong on principles of non-additionality and grant-based climate finance but make no spending promises – although their section on ‘Phasing Out Fossil Fuels’ contains strong global content and a commitment to broaden the scope of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act. (Both Labour and the Social Democrats support development of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty also.)
Fianna Fáil’s level of ambition on climate finance is lacking, pledging only to deliver “€225m annually by 2025” although it at least commits “to promote the new Fund for Loss and Damage, prioritizing the world’s most vulnerable countries”. Fine Gael promises only that “commitments are met and effectively address climate challenges” under the context of the 2022-2025 climate finance roadmap. Although it does focus funding on adaptation, Fine Gael’s manifesto, like the Greens’, does not mention Loss and Damage.
‘Hunger’
There are no specific commitments by any party to hunger or global food systems reforms - and this is disappointing. However, there is a great contrast between the emphasis placed on global hunger by the Social Democrats and Labour and the other parties who do not mention hunger at all (Fine Gael only doing so in the specific context of Sudan). SD/Labour/Green policies which aim for impressive domestic food systems reform are framed in sustainable domestic but not global contexts.
‘Peace, Stability & Humanitarian Response’
Of the current government parties, the Green Party’s statement that “The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated that international law is increasingly under attack” and its condemnation of “brutal violations of international law”, as well as the measures it proposes, are the strongest.
Fianna Fáil at least calls for the “application of international law and justice” while Fine Gael is confined to “making the case” for human rights obligations in the EU-Israel Association Agreement and enforcing “existing legislation on munitions”.
Sinn Féin’s foreign policy priority to “Using Ireland’s position, and the global institutions that we are a part of, to ensure international law is upheld and to be an advocate for conflict resolution, humanitarianism and tackling global challenges” is perhaps the most impressive party statement in this area – one it reiterates in the context of Gaza.
The Social Democrats’ statement that “A culture that promotes human rights and respect for international law is strongly embedded in Ireland” and its commitment to seek “peaceful and durable solutions to conflict in accordance with international law” are also impressive – as is Labour’s commitment to international law in its foreign policy sections.
Labour also commits to “work to achieve progress within the UN on the range of treaties and negotiations including on weapons and materials of war.”
‘Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development’ (PCSD)
A clear leader in this section is the Social Democrats manifesto which contains two separate sections on ‘International Tax Justice’ and Business and Human Rights’, endorsing our calls for a new spillover analysis and a UN tax convention, as well as calling for “a new UN based (as opposed to IMF-based) debt workout mechanism”.
Labour states its support for “Ambitious UN reform in favour of transparency, accountability, and effectiveness, and full commitment to the Agenda 2030 and the development of an ambitious and effective successor” as well as reform of the WTO, a UN binding treaty on Business and Human Rights, and a new Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
The Green Party manifesto contains a short section on international trade, calling for restrictions of the investor court system but not an outright ban. Perhaps most specifically in this section, Fianna Fáil commits to “Ensure a significant increase in the proportion of Official Development Assistance is channeled into the education of young people in developing countries, with a particular focus on the education of girls.”
None of the manifestos mention PCSD specifically.
People Before Profit's manifesto has some passages on neutrality and on Palestine which are included in the excerpts document.
Aontú and Independent Ireland, on the other hand, make the following statements on NGOs in their websites or manifestos. Independent Ireland claims there is a €6.2 billion per annum “Waste, Mismanagement and Overspend” on NGOs, while Aontú’s manifesto states that they would undertake a comprehensive audit of all funded NGO’s and fund only those that offer “value for money or offer valuable services in the community”.
*Please let us know of any errors or omissions which may have been made.