Distribution of aid taking years, sadly? It wouldn’t surprise me (1,4,3)
I believe the answer is:
i dare say
'it wouldn't surprise me' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'distribution of aid taking years sadly?' is the wordplay.
'distribution of' indicates an anagram.
'taking' says to put letters next to each other.
'sadly?' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'sadly' mean this).
'aid' is an anagram of 'ida'.
'years' is an anagram of 'resay'.
'ida'+'resay'='I DARE SAY'
(Other definitions for i dare say that I've seen before include "It is probable" , "Probably" , "Maybe" , "One would think" , "One assumes" .)