Ireland

Aid

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GNI adjusted for various quality factors: it subtracts debt service, penalizes “tied” aid that makes recipients spend aid only on donor goods and services, rewards aid to poor but relatively uncorrupt recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.

• Score: 5.9
• Rank: 5

• No tied or partially tied aid (rank: 1)
• High net aid volume as a share of the economy (0.39%; rank: 9)
• Large amount of private charitable giving attributable to tax policy (rank by share of GNI: 1)
• Prevents project proliferation; large average project size (rank: 2)
• Selectivity: large share of aid to relatively poor countries with more democratic governments (rank: 1)

Trade

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against exports from developing countries.

• Score: 5.7
• Rank: 18

• High protection of agricultural commodities (rank: 18)
• High agricultural subsidies (rank: 21)

Investment

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can transfer technologies, upgrade management and create jobs. The CDI includes a checklist of policies that support healthy investment in developing countries.

Ireland Overall

• Score: 2.5
• Rank: 21

• Does not provide political risk insurance through a national agency
• Does not prevent double taxation of corporate profits earned in developing countries
• Does not participate in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
• Does not provide official assistance to developing countries to set up investment promotion agencies
• Does not provide official support for outflows of portfolio investment

Migration

The movement of people from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. This increases the flow of money sent home by migrants abroad and the transfer of skills when the migrants return.

• Score: 4.6
• Rank: 11

• Small share of foreign students from developing countries in 2003 (36%; rank: 20)
• Only a small increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Ireland (rank by share of population: 14)

Environment

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources, and poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration, so the CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries and biodiversity.

• Score: 7.2
• Rank: 2

• Large decline in greenhouse gas emissions rate in 1994–2004 (average annual growth rate/PPP GDP, –7%; rank: 1)
• Small number of endangered species imports (rank: 1)

• High greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita (17 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 17)
• High fishing subsidies (rank: 14)

Security

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, rewards military protection of global sea lanes, and penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.

• Score: 5.9
• Rank: 8

• No arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments

• No protection of global sea lanes

Technology

Rich countries contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI captures this by measuring government support for R&D and penalizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.

• Score: 3.0
• Rank: 20

• Low share of government R&D expenditure on defense (rank: 1)

• Low government expenditure on R&D (rank by share of GDP: 20)
• Allows patents on plant and animal varieties