Ireland cannot abandon Third World countries even in cases of governmental corruption, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has declared, speaking in Tanzania yesterday.
Aid agency Goal chief executive, John O'Shea, has argued that Ireland should not give money directly to African governments, but should retain control over projects.
"I have great admiration for John O'Shea, but at the end of the day governments are governments, but people are people. Whether governments are good, or bad, or in-between, the reality is that you have to try to assist people," he said.
While the Government would "not be ambivalent" about ensuring that Irish money was well spent and safely guarded, Mr Ahern said fears about corruption were not grounds "to pull back".
He said he had "a personal preference" for the model outlined by Mr O'Shea, where projects were directly controlled by Ireland, "but I have to say this is not shared by everybody.
"I like the schemes where you are not putting it into somebody else's pot and that you are going directly to the ground. But I understand that that is not always practical," he said.
Tanzania will receive €170 million over the next three years from Ireland, and more than three-quarters of that is given directly to the Tanzanian government to pay for health and education.
Mr Ahern and the Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid, Michael Kitt, travelled to Mwanza, near Lake Victoria, yesterday, with Tanzanian prime minister Edward Lowassa.
Ireland's contribution to Tanzania is "enormous", said Mr Lowassa. "I have only one message to say for what you are doing. Please continue supporting us. We shall also be trying our best, but rest assured that your money is being well spent."
"I can assure them [the people of Ireland] that we as a government are committed to getting corruption out," he added.
