IRELAND'S AID TO AFGHANISTAN

UNCLAS DUBLIN 000274 SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO SCA/A LAUREN FRESE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN KDEM PGOV PREL EI SUBJECT: IRELAND'S AID TO AFGHANISTAN REF: STATE 44359 ¶1. (U) Ireland pledged 5 million euro ($7.75 million) in aid to Afghanistan at the 2006 London Conference, all of which has been fully discharged, according to Director Emma Leonard, Emergency and Recovery Section, Irish Aid, Department of Foreign Affairs, to whom POLOFF delivered reftel demarche on May 16. Since 2005, Irish Aid has donated almost 11.5 million euro ($17.8 million) in development and emergency relief aid to Afghanistan, she added, including almost 3 million euro ($4.65 million) in 2008. Ireland will most likely attend the Paris Conference and intends to continue providing aid to Afghanistan, Leonard added, although she did not discuss the level of aid. She was not aware of the no-pledging position that EU Member States discussed taking at the Paris Conference. ¶2. (U) Ireland agrees with the suggested approach to determine pledge amounts by accounting for pledges made during the London Conference, Leonard said. FOLEY