Speech by the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D. at the Opening of the Camara FacilityCastleforbes Road (Point Depot) on Monday, 11th December, 2006

I am delighted to be here this evening to officially open these new premises in Dublin’s Docklands for Camara. More than that, I am happy to have this opportunity to join with you in a celebration of your achievements, which are all the more notable when you consider that Camara has been operating for just over one year. We have just seen on the video how worthwhile your work is and I think it is important that such endeavour is recognised and encouraged.

Traditionally, in Ireland, we have a strong reputation for goodwill towards helping people less fortunate than ourselves both at home and abroad. Through Irish Aid, the Government is proud to support Camara as both an innovative, and a practical, expression of solidarity with the developing world. In 2005, through the Partnership Fund, Irish Aid granted €3,000 to Camara Education Ltd for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness education to schools and colleges in Ethopia.

Irish Aid, through the Civil Society fund granted a total of €225,000 over three years towards the work of refurbishing computers for schools and colleges in Africa and building their capacity in Information and Communications Technology.

The Government is committed to the continued support of international development through the work of organisations like Camara. Next year, we will channel €813 million in aid to some of the world’s poorest countries. This is an increase of 21% on last year’s record high and will continue as we reach the UN target of spending 0.7% of our GNP by 2012.

In recent times Ireland’s small open economy has benefited significantly from Information and Communication Technology developments. Technology is everywhere – it plays a part in practically everything we do. We are hosts to the world’s leading ICT companies and have a very credible reputation as a leading country in ICT development. New technology continually improves our lives and our livelihoods and it gives us scope to improve the outcomes and impacts of what we already do. In short, it is opening up new horizons of possibility for everyone.

As a society and an economy, we have reached the stage where skills acquisition depends to a large extent on individual choice. The communities benefiting from the work of Camara are communities where people are without choice and without the luxury of options through a lack of adequate resources.

Camara, through its work, is keeping up the tradition of goodwill towards others by its willingness to share the benefits of the knowledge and insights that it has. It recognises that financial aid is not always the most important help we can give or receive. As well as refurbishing secondhand computers for use in Africa, you are sending out Irish computer science volunteers to provide basic computer training to the partners, teachers and students using the technology. This is an important way of ensuring sustainability and local ownership in the long-term. In doing that, you are supporting the key principles of Irish Aid.

I have spoken before about how strongly I feel that we can make a difference by actively participating in the life of the society around us. Active citizenship arises from our sense of social concern as members of a wider community, which crosses boundaries of nationality and culture. Volunteers learn valuable lessons about the world in which they live and gain as much as they impart.

Camara’s work is mutually beneficial in all respects. It creates increased knowledge for all participants as well as connections of mutual benefit and experiences shared. I think it is particularly commendable that this year, in an era when time is the scarcest resource of all, through Camara, thirteen people volunteered their skills in Ethopia and Kenya for eight weeks. During this time five hundred teachers were trained and twenty Schools were equipped with up to twenty five computers.

At home, Camara has forged and developed relationships with community based organisations in Belfast where the refurbishment of the computers is carried out. Here in the Dublin Docklands you are working to get local schools involved in your project and you already have transition year students working with you. I know that you are lucky to have input from at least one young man who has built up his technical skills with the Intel Computer Clubhouse in Blanchardstown. It is great to see young people getting involved with worthy projects like this and to see the spin-off from important initiatives like the Computer Clubhouse which I had the pleasure of opening in Blanchardstown in 2002.

You have also had a very successful collaboration with the Irish Army who just a couple of weeks ago took a shipment of 100 PCs with them for schools in Liberia where they will set them up and provide the necessary training. Our defence forces undertake much good work of this type and it is only right that we acknowledge this and commend them for it.

Two people in particular must be congratulated on the great work undertaken by Camara - Cormac Lynch who had the idea and took the initiative to establish the organisation and Eoghan Crosbie who has done so much work on the technical side.

I am happy that our aid programme and the work of organisations like Camara show our true success as a nation that cares, that has not forgotten its roots, and that is prepared to continue the tradition of help, support and nurture.

This year Ireland will throw out 150,000 computers. Given the growing use of computers this figure can only increase. Camara is taking the problem of their disposal and turning it into a very credible and worthwhile solution.

The positive impact of this initiative is demonstrated by the increase in your capacity to the refurbishment of three hundred computers a month. That you could achieve this in such a short time is testament to how vibrant and committed everyone involved in this wonderful project is.

All this is work of which you can justifiably be proud.

I would like to thank Gary McDarby for his kind invitation here today and I wish you all every success for the future in your new facility here on Castleforbes Rd.

Thank you.

ENDS