asked the Minister for External Affairs whether he now considers it appropriate to make financial assistance available to those Irish organisations in Great Britain which are doing magnificent work for the welfare of Irish exiles; and, if not, why.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Aid for Irish Organisations in Britain.
24.
I refer the Deputy to the reply I gave to a question on this subject on 22nd November last, and to my statements on the matter in reply to the debates on the Estimates for the Department of External Affairs on the 24th February, 1965, and the 8th February, 1967.
Do I take it that there is no change in the attitude of the Government towards this question of assistance to emigrant organisations?
If the Deputy will read the replies——
——and that it is not the intention of the Government in the foreseeable future to provide financial assistance to some of these organisations in Britain?
The extent of the assistance we are providing is outlined in these replies to which I have referred the Deputy.
In other words, the Government have no interest in the welfare of emigrants.
The Minister is an emigrant himself most of the time.