andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for External Affairs if in view of the continued emigration and of the reported overcrowding and slum-like living conditions under which many young Irish men and women are living in Britain, he will institute a commission of inquiry to ascertain the facts of the matter and to try to find out whether the Government could take some direct action abroad to seek to ameliorate or improve the living conditions of these young people unable to find work at home.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Living Conditions of Irishmen and Women in Britain.
9.
I have seen an article in the British Sunday paper The People upon which the Deputies' question appears to be based but, like a number of previous articles which were obviously designed to promote antagonism and contempt for Irish people, it did not appear in the Irish edition.
As the Deputy is aware I dealt with the matter at length in replying on Tuesday to the estimates debate and I again strongly advise intending emigrants to make enquiries before they leave about the prospects of employment and living accommodation in the area to which they are thinking of going.
There is every truth in the statement made. I have it on good authority that when they arrive over there they have to sleep on the park benches because they have not got tuppence to get a bed for themselves in the first week.
Is the Minister seriously suggesting the article is incorrect with regard to the conditions of Irish workers in Manchester, Liverpool, and parts of London?
I am suggesting that articles which appear——
What does the Minister know about it? He never goes near the slums.
Nobody knows anything about slums but Deputy Dr. Browne.
Order.
We did far more for slums than ever Deputy Dr. Browne did.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Or ever will do.
The Minister was asked a question. If it is not intended that he should be allowed to reply, why was the question put to him? The Minister.
I was about to reply to Deputy McQuillan's supplementary as to whether or not I deny the truth of the article. As the Deputy knows as well as I do, many articles about Irish people appear in some British newspapers. But they appear only in their home editions and not in their Irish editions, obviously in the interest of their Irish circulation.
There was an article in the issue of a Sunday paper published here which gave a full description of conditions in certain British towns and cities. Does the Minister deny the accuracy of the description of the terrible housing conditions which Irishmen and women have to endure over there?
The Sunday Independent is not a foreign paper.
I do not read British newspapers and much less do I read their Irish editions.
As a member of the Dublin Housing Committee I meet crowds of people every morning of my life. I meet dozens coming back from England.
The Deputy is not asking a question.
I want to prove that what has been said about housing conditions in England is not exaggeration.