Ireland has pledged to double its foreign aid funding to more than €2bn by 2030.
The announcement was made by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste at the launch of A Better World, the Government’s new policy for international development, at an event in University College Dublin on Thursday.
The government plans to increase international aid to 0.7% of gross national income by 2030.
Ireland currently spends more than €800m per annum on foreign aid.
Leo Varadkar described the new policy as an “eloquent statement” of what the Government wants to achieve in the area of international development in the 21st century.
He said he was very conscious that, before the economic crisis, Ireland was moving towards reaching the 0.7% goal but it had dropped to about 0.3% since then.
“We’ve a long distance to go yet but we’re determined to do it and reach that target by 2030,” he said.
Mr Varadkar added: “At its heart is a focused pledge in relation to the sustainable development goals to leave nobody behind and reach the furthest behind first.”
The funds will go towards issues such as gender equality, climate action and governance.
The new plan aims to builds on Government’s Global Ireland initiative to double the scope and impact of Ireland’s global footprint by 2025.
Simon Coveney said the new plans were about making the world a better place to live.
“At a time of change and uncertainty it’s important that Ireland plays its part not only at home but also abroad,” he said.
Mr Coveney said the government did not make the commitment lightly and that it would involve difficult choices for future governments.
“The financial commitment effectively is to take our development aid from just over 800 million a year to well over two billion euro a year over the next 10 years,” he said.
“For me this is part of a measure of who we should be and who we want to be as a global citizen.
“It’s a real commitment that involves choices and indeed sacrifices of what otherwise could be achieve by this money at home should we chose not to spend it abroad.”