From 2019-24, the Government gifted €50,411,250 of Irish taxpayers’ money to the pro-abortion UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The staggering sum was confirmed in a reply to a Parliamentary Question submitted by Cork North Central, Independent Ireland TD, Deputy Ken O’Flynn.

It is deeply concerning that over €50 million of Irish taxpayers’ money was gifted by the Government over a five year period to such a controversial ideological organisation. For years, the UNFPA has been at the forefront of efforts to expand abortion internationally, especially across developing nations. The Government’s decision to allocate such an enormous level of funding to the organisation, without any prior public discussion or scrutiny, makes the move even more shocking and unacceptable.

The fact that the UNFPA channels some of its funding into areas unrelated to abortion may be used to deflect criticism, but it does not answer the core concern. Phrases such as ‘sexual and reproductive health’, commonly used by organisations like the UNFPA, are widely understood to include the promotion of abortion. The Department of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged that the area of ‘sexual and reproductive healthcare’ includes abortion.

Funding channelled to organisations like the UNFPA cannot credibly be described as genuine foreign aid. Instead, it amounts to the use of Irish taxpayers’ money to promote a deeply ideological agenda overseas – carried out in our name but without our consent. The sheer scale of public funding committed by the Government in recent years to contentious causes such as the promotion and provision of abortion worldwide is nothing short of staggering, all the more so when you consider that the Government does not spend so much as a single cent on promoting life-affirming alternatives to abortion, either in Ireland or overseas. This is a full-blown scandal that must remain in the public spotlight until meaningful change is achieved.

In addition to the latest revelations concerning funding for the UNFPA, the Government has also provided millions of euro in funding to other international pro-abortion organisations over the past five years, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the Clinton Foundation.