Poor Rainfall has led to a severe deterioration in the levels of food available in parts of Ethiopia, but the unfolding crisis cannot be compared to the 1984 famine, the Irish Ambassador to Ethiopia told an Oireachtas committee yesterday.

Addressing the subcommittee on overseas development, Síle Maguire warned that the situation regarding food shortages in Ethiopia was of grave concern.

Last week, the Ethiopian government announced that the number of people in need of emergency help had reached 6.2 million.

The Irish Government responded swiftly with €1.35 million in humanitarian assistance.

But Ms. Maguire noted that the suffering witnessed 25 years ago had not returned.

"This is not to downplay the gravity of the current situation . . . but the manner in which the Ethiopian government, supported by the international community, deals with food shortages has developed very significantly since 1984," she said.

Over the past three years, Ireland has provided some €126 million towards development in Ethiopia.

Of this, €96 million is channeled through a bilateral program, while the remaining is allocated through NGOs, UN agencies and missionaries.

"We remain engaged in Ethiopia because our support is yielding significant results. But the needs remain immense," Ms. Maguire said.

"While progress continues to be made, Ethiopia has some very considerable distance to go on key development indicators and there are a number of complex challenges to be navigated in the period ahead."

Progress on civil society and governance issues had been uneven so far, the Ambassador noted.

A particular priority was to assist civil society groups in adapting to new legislation that restricts the type of activities in which organization receiving foreign funding can engage, she added.

Ms. Maguire downplayed the impact of recent cuts to Ireland's overseas development budget.

The Ethiopia program, for which funding has been reduced by €6 million, had already undergone readjustment and rationalization, according to Ms. Maguire.