The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Ireland must increase its international aid package in order to put the country on par with other UN countries.
Speaking over the weekend Mr Varadkar said Ireland must increase their aid package in 2018 especially given that the the country has seen an economic upturn in recent years.
The Taoiseach who will surely face some criticism from the public given the current state of the homeless crisis, said although Ireland did make contributions during the recession they were no were near the UN average.
In his statement Mr Varadkar added that he and the Government will conduct a review of international aid expenditure and they hope to increase it by mid 2018.
Mr Varadkar’s comments come after recent figures showed that Ireland spent €724 million on overseas development aid in 2016.
Although the contribution was considered healthy it fall short of the UN target of 0.7% Gross National Income at 0.33%.
