Aid

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GDP 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 well-governed recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.

Ireland’s aid performance

• Score: 7.5
• Rank: 6

Strengths

• No tied or partially tied aid (rank: 1)
• Large amount of private charitable giving attributable to tax policy (rank by share of GDP: 1)
• Large share of aid to poor and relatively well-governed recipients (selectivity rank: 2)
• Relatively high net aid volume as a share of the economy (0.52%; rank: 9)

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.

Ireland’s trade performance

• Score: 5.2
• Rank: 23

Strengths

• Low tariffs on textiles (6.4% of the value of imports; rank: 3)
• Low tariffs on apparel (6.4% of the value of imports; rank: 3)
• High level of manufactures imports from poorer countries (10.1% of GDP per capita; rank: 4)

Weaknesses

• High agricultural subsidies (equivalent to a tariff of 17.2% of the value of imports; rank: 27)

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’s investment performance

• Score: 2.9
• Rank: 26

Weaknesses

• Does not provide political risk insurance through a national agency
• Lacks policies to fully prevent double taxation of corporate profits earned abroad
• Has not yet completed Phase 3 of the OECD Convention on Bribery
• Weak participation and leadership in extractive industry transparency initiatives

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 home.

Ireland’s migration performance

• Score: 2.8
• Rank: 21

Weaknesses

• Small number of immigrants from developing countries entering Ireland (rank by share of population: 23)
• Small share of foreign students from developing countries (39%; 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: 16)
• Tuition for foreign students higher than for nationals

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.

Ireland’s environment performance

• Score: 6.5
• Rank: 15

Strengths

• Low fossil fuel production rate per capita (0.0 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 1)
• GDP growth exceeded growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the past decade (average annual GHG growth rate/GDP, -3.9%; rank: 6)

Weaknesses

• Poor compliance with mandatory reporting requirements under multilateral environmental agreements relating to biodiversity (rank: 26)
• High fishing subsidies ($1.46 per person; rank: 22)

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.

Ireland’s security performance

• Score: 6.9
• Rank: 4

Strengths

• Significant financial and personnel contributions to UN peacekeeping operations over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 3)li>
• Few arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments (rank by share of GDP: 6)li>
• Participates in major international security treaties and regimesli>

Weaknesses

• Low personnel contributions to non-UN, internationally-sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 20)

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.

Ireland’s technology performance

• Score: 3.9
• Rank: 23

Strengths

• No government R&D expenditure on defense (rank: 1)

Weaknesses

• Low overall government expenditure on R&D (rank by share of GDP: 22)
• Allows patents on plant and animal varieties
• Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain