The Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre will be opened by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern next week at Findlater House on Dublin's O'Connell Street.
Irish Aid is the overseas development division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the proposed establishment of the centre was announced in the White Paper on Third World aid published in September 2006.
The centre will be a "first point of contact" for members of the public interested in overseas development, including volunteer work. It will seek to promote public awareness and understanding of development issues and the role of Irish Aid in tackling global poverty.
Ireland is expected to spend a total of €914 million on aid this year, in line with the Government's commitment, over the next four years, to reach the UN target of devoting 0.7 per cent of gross national product to overseas development assistance. Ireland is listed as the sixth-largest aid donor in the world in per capita terms.
Located at the junction of O'Connell Street and Cathal Brugha Street, the centre comprises over 500sq m of exhibition space, which will be used to raise awareness of development issues, progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and Ireland's role in overseas aid, whether through Government, NGOs or missionary and volunteering organisations.
