Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 28 Mar 1968

Vol. 233 No. 10

Committee on Finance. - Vote 45—External Affairs.

Minister for External Affairs (Mr. Aiken)

Tairgim:

Go ndeonófar suim fhorlíontach nach mó ná £42,200 chun íoctha an mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31ú lá de Mhárta, 1968, le haghaidh Tuarastail agus Costais Oifig an Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha, agus Seirbhísí áirithe atá faoi riaradh na hOifige sin, lena n-áirítear Deontas-i-gCabhair.

With your permission, I propose to take the Supplementary Estimate for External Affairs and the Supplementary Estimate for International Co-operation together.

The Supplementary Estimate for External Affairs is required to meet the additional expenditure on subhead B— Travelling and Incidental Expenses— on subhead D—Repatriation and Maintenance of Destitute Irish Persons Abroad — and subhead G—Official Entertainment.

On subhead B, the additional requirement is due mainly to the unexpectedly high level of payments by way of travel expenses and related expenditure arising from transfers and home leave of diplomatic staff abroad. During the year the number of transfers effected proved greater than was originally envisaged and some of these involved very long distances. In addition, expenditure on other services provided by the subhead, such as telephones, postage and miscellaneous items, proved greater than expected. The provision for this subhead was also, of course, affected by devaluation which occurred in November last.

With regard to subhead D, the additional £11,000 is required to meet expenditure incurred on the repatriation of Irish citizens from Nigeria as a result of the conflict in that country. Under the present system of accounting, expenditure incurred on the repatriation and maintenance of Irish citizens abroad is charged to the appropriate subheads of the Vote and moneys subsequently recovered from persons who are repatriated is brought to account by way of Appropriations in Aid of the Vote. In the case of Irish citizens repatriated from Nigeria, it is expected that most, if not all, of the expenditure will be recovered and will be accounted for in this way.

The gross Supplementary Estimate is reduced by £5,800 as a result of additional receipts in the current financial year arising from the repayment of expenses incurred in repatriating Irish citizens. About 140 persons were repatriated from Nigeria by the Embassy there or otherwise assisted in their return home.

With regard to subhead G—Official Entertainment—it is expected that an additional sum of £7,000 will be required. While every effort is made to keep down expenditure, there is a tendency towards an increase in the volume of necessary official entertainment each year, largely attributable to a welcome growth in the number of international conferences, both governmental and non-governmental, attracted to Ireland.

The Supplementary Estimate for International Co-Operation is required to meet additional expenditure on subhead C.2—United Nations Travelling and Incidental Expenses; on subhead C.3—Contribution to the United Nations Children's Fund; and subhead C.7—Contribution to the United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency.

On subhead C.2 the additional sum is required to meet the cost of the delegation at present attending the UNCTAD meeting in New Delhi, provision for which was not made in the original Estimate.

With regard to the additional sums required for UNRWA and UNICEF, it will be recalled that the hostilities which broke out in the Middle East in June, 1967 resulted in great suffering for innumerable innocent people. Some of the victims of the war were already refugees, displaced as a result of previous hostilities; others were newly displaced persons who fled from the areas captured during the most recent conflict. The existence of some 1¼ million Arab refugees is one of the great humanitarian problems of our time. It is also recognised that it is a problem which must be settled before there can be any hope of lasting peace in the Middle East.

For over 18 years the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees—UNRWA—has been assisting the Arab refugees who originally fled from their homes as a result of the hostilities in 1948. The majority of these refugees were poor farmers who, once displaced from their holdings, had little hope of earning a livelihood. In May 1967 there were some 1,300,000 refugees living in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip who were registered with the United Nations Agency. As a result of the war in June last, it is estimated that some 130,000 of these previously registered refugees were uprooted from their homes—many for the second time in their lives. In addition at least another 220,000 persons were newly displaced and this number has been augmented by a steady stream of refugees who have continued to cross from the west to the east bank of the Jordan river. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, in conjunction with the Arab governments concerned and with other UN agencies and voluntary organisations, took special measures to provide urgently needed supplies and services for the refugees during and after the emergency period. All this placed a great strain on the Agency's limited resources.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is financed solely by voluntary contributions from governmental and private sources. In recent years the Agency's annual budget has been about 40 million dollars—a figure which has allowed the expenditure of approximately 10d. per day on each refugee. Already before the outbreak of hostilities the Agency lacked sufficient funds to meet the cost of running existing services and it was operating on a deficit.

Ireland voted in favour of a resolution calling for help for this fund. As Deputies are aware from my previous statement in this matter on 25th July last in the Dáil, the Government, in response to this UN resolution, decided to make a contribution totalling 50,000 dollars for the aid of the Arab refugees. Of this total, 40,000 dollars would be sent to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and 10,000 dollars to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). This special contribution was in addition to Ireland's regular annual contributions to both of these Funds. The Irish Red Cross Society also made a substantial contribution towards the relief of refugees in the Middle East.

As at 31st December, 1967 a total of 5,700,000 dollars had been pledged by governments in special contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency. These contributions have enabled the Agency to provide the urgently needed assistance for the victims of the June, 1967 conflict and they have helped towards relieving the immediate financial problems of the Agency.

Mr. Cosgrave

The Supplementary Estimates before the House emphasise the urgent question of providing relief for a number of distressed areas in the world. The provision of assistance to suffering humanity is naturally one that finds a ready acceptance among the people of this country. The contribution which we can make to this vast problem is not large. Nevertheless, the fact that it is necessary to make a contribution in providing assistance, either through the Red Cross or through one of the United Nations agencies, brings before our minds the whole question of the extent to which our foreign aid is adequate in present circumstances.

One of the extraordinary contradictions of the present aid is that in many parts of the world—not indeed confined to one continent—hunger and distress exist. It is sometimes difficult for those not in contact with these problems, who have not in one form or another to deal with them, to appreciate that this is so in this affluent age. Consideration of these Supplementary Estimates affords us an opportunity of examining in present circumstances the gravity of the problem affecting so many areas, the hardship and misery caused by food shortages, as well as the refugee problem referred to by the Minister, and raises the question whether this country is doing enough and whether the aid we are providing is being used to the best advantage.

Aid, as we know, can take a number of forms. It can take the simple, direct form of a financial contribution directly by the State either to one of the United Nations relief organisations and agencies or a contribution, financial or otherwise, to the Red Cross or to some other philanthropic body dealing with these problems. It can take the direct form of food, which has a number of advantages, and in the past on some occasions we provided assistance in that way, or it can take the form of technical assistance. To a very large extent, Irish aid can be most usefully directed towards ex-colonial countries with which we have a traditional sympathy as well as established contacts, in most cases through the work of the Irish missionaries.

The question of the extent to which our contribution should be based on a fixed percentage of national income arises. I understand this was the general recommendation laid down by the relief committee of the OECD countries. We were not actually represented on this committee, which nevertheless suggested that by a certain year the relief granted would be stepped up to one per cent of the national income.

The question of aid, of course, raises the problem of the extent to which the aid given is used to the best advantage. It is not easy for a small country like this to ascertain accurately whether the assistance and relief given are used to the best advantage and experience has shown on some occasions in the past that some of the efforts made were misdirected. It does, however, highlight the importance of our present position, the fact that despite our relatively low standard of living compared with some other more advanced and affluent countries, the larger and better organised nations, the standard of living here is appreciably higher than in some countries.

In relation to the contribution which small nations can make to the solution of world problems, we have endeavoured, in so far as providing peace-keeping personnel in the Middle East, in Cyprus or the Congo is concerned, to play our part. At the same time, we appreciate and recognise that there is a limit to the extent to which small countries can contribute in that way. On the other hand, we have an obligation, if we are sincere in our expressed views, supported by all shades of political and public opinion in the country, to make a contribution to alleviate and ease the hardships in so many countries and areas which are affected by problems of hunger and problems which organisations like Gorta or World Food Efforts are designed to assist, and the acute hardships which refugees generally are experiencing.

I raise this matter so that it may be considered in the future from the point of view of deciding whether our foreign aid programme is designed to utilise to the best advantage the contribution which this country can make and, at the same time, whether our contribution on the basis of our present comparatively higher standard of living compared with those distressed countries can be regarded as being adequate in the circumstances.

The question of repatriating refugees and destitute Irish persons abroad brings up again the problem to which I adverted before of Irish emigrants. Up to the present we have never consciously accepted as a responsibility the duty to provide assistance in a tangible way for Irish emigrants abroad. In the main, that problem is confined to Britain. While nowadays a number of people still emigrate to other parts of the world, the largest number of Irish emigrants go to Britain. In the past I think one of the reasons for refusing to accept responsibility for this matter was possibly based on two grounds: first, a reluctance in some way or other to recognise or accept the fact that we had an emigration problem and secondly, that because of the large number of Irish people going to Britain, to accept responsibility that in any way involved the possibility of limitless liability in the sense that it would be impossible to fix a particular limit or an overriding maximum in respect of assistance.

I think both those reasons are not well founded. On the one hand, irrespective of how the emigration figures vary, there is constant and continuous large-scale emigration from this country. In Britain, there are many well established organisations, either operated or directed by Irish people or in close contact with Irish people, providing relief, assistance and guidance for emigrants. The fact that they exist and operate and do a great deal of valuable and useful work has to a considerable extent replaced the inescapable duty which the State here would have if they did not exist.

Nevertheless, these organisations are voluntary and financed by different means, and staffed by people who have devoted themselves to this type of welfare work. At the same time, in present circumstances, that is not sufficient and the Government must accept responsibility for assisting in providing welfare centres for Irish emigrants in Britain. In certain cases, these welfare centres will have to be provided with financial assistance. Initially experience would probably show that this assistance could be confined to the larger centres of population such as London. Birmingham and other cities to which there is a traditional flow of Irish emigrants.

So far as emigration to Britain is concerned, the fact that it is near this country and that it is possible for people to keep in touch minimises the problem to a great extent for most emigrants. A great many people who emigrate to Britain either already have contacts there or have relatives there, and because of that, they are in a position to avail of guidance and assistance. They know where they are going and they can get some help in their new surroundings. On the other hand, I think there is no doubt about this aspect of the matter and it is one that must cause us some concern.

A great many people of tender years or in their teens travel to Britain every week. A number of them have social and other problems, and welfare workers and sociological workers and others who have been dealing with these problems from time to time expressed their great concern at the fact that there is no regulation or restriction on this form of travel. A great many parents and guardians, of course, exercise control—I suppose the majority do—but there is still a substantial minority of young people who go to Britain without any proper supervision and without proper contacts over there and who are exposed to all forms of dangers and risks against which I feel we have some obligation to try to safeguard them. It seems to me, therefore, that we should again look at this problem to see whether some measure of control could be operated in respect of these types of people and, on the other hand, to see whether it is not possible to provide assistance to welfare centres for people from this country who need it.

The other matter I wish to raise on this Supplementary Estimate might more normally be raised on the annual Estimate but it is never quite certain, in recent experience—with the organisation of the Estimates—when the matter may be considered. What decision, if any, have the Government taken on the deadlock which has arisen in respect of EEC membership? This problem has been discussed here on a number of occasions in recent years. We have had many debates on it. It is not necessary to recapitulate on the matter or on aspects of it on this occasion.

An Ceann Comhairle

I doubt if this matter would be relevant on the Supplementary Estimate. We are confined to the various subheads. I do not see any heading under which the matter could be discussed.

Mr. Cosgrave

I understood that these two Supplementary Estimates covered all our expenses in respect of a contribution to international organisations.

An Ceann Comhairle

On Supplementary Estimates, the policy of the Department is not generally discussed. That is a matter for the main Estimate which will come before us shortly. The Deputy will then have an opportunity of pursuing the matter.

Mr. Cosgrave

I do not wish to press it. The other matter which is included in the Supplementary Estimate is the provision in respect of Subhead G—Official Entertainment. The Minister has argued that the number of conferences and visitors of one form or another is increasing here. As I understood it, these conferences are generally covered by the organisation concerned. However, it does seem to me that the rise in this subhead—which, so far as I can estimate, has increased approximately five times over what it was ten years ago—is substantial. I do not know whether it now covers aspects of the Vote which were not included previously but it does seem a substantial increase.

With regard to the increase due to the unexpectedly high number of representatives who either were moved or who returned on leave, the Minister adverted in his opening statement to the effect of devaluation. When he is replying, perhaps he will indicate the percentage increase due to devaluation in respect of this rise.

Mr. Aiken

I agree with the Leader of the Opposition that we should aim at doing more to relieve the distress of peoples who are much worse off than ourselves. I do not want to go into any great detail about what we have been doing. Over the years, we have steadily been increasing the amount of money made available to the various agencies of the United Nations and the Red Cross for the relief of distress and the improvement of the technical ability of less developed countries. We can, perhaps, go into that in more detail when the main Estimate is being taken which I hope will not be too long away. I think we can be sure that our people are prepared to support the funds opened to afford such relief to suffering countries. The Red Cross collected £150,000 in a very short time for the relief of hunger which was quite a substantial amount for a small country. I should like to see, and the Government would like to see, our contribution reaching at least one per cent of the national income. We are far away from that yet. Counting everything, I do not think we are even half of one per cent.

Deputy Cosgrave mentioned help for Irish people—minors and others—who reach Britain and who should be taken care of. A few years ago, I persuaded the Department of Finance to give us a sum of money for the repatriation of minors and others—Irish citizens— who, in the opinion of the Ambassador over there, should be sent home. Until a few years ago, it was absolutely excluded that we could repatriate an Irish citizen from Britain at State expense. The Ambassadors in London were forbidden to advance money for this purpose. As the Deputy knows, our Ambassadors in other countries can advance money for repatriation in cases of distress but it did not obtain in Britain. It is now open to the Ambassador there to repatriate any citizen of whom he becomes aware who should be at home instead of abroad. Notwithstanding the fact that this has been in operation for some time now, it has not cost much. It was discovered that once a means of repatriating people was available, the problem was not so great. A few years ago, to hear people describing this problem one would think there were many thousands that should be sent home at State expense but there were very few when the money was made available for their repatriation. As Deputies are aware, we have no restriction on Irish citizens going to Britain and if we were to introduce restrictions, we would have to introduce the passport system; I see no other way of doing it effectively. That would be a very big step and I think it is much better that we should deal with any problem that may arise of youngsters or people who should not leave Ireland going to British urban centres by having them sent back. I think that is a better way of dealing with it than by introducing the passport system. It must also be remembered that the Irish people in Britain, and in the urban centres particularly, are very well organised for charitable purposes and one of the objects of their charity is newly-arrived Irish citizens who might find themselves in temporary want.

I have not got complete statistics about international organisations that have held conventions or conferences here but the number has gone up steadily over the years, and for my own information I shall get a detailed table so that if the matter is raised again, we shall have the statistics. But, as everyone knows who is in touch with these matters, there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of these conferences and we have literally dozens held here each year, whereas ten years ago we had hardly one. Some of them are very big affairs. We have had one or two conferences this year at which the number of foreign delegates alone went over the 1,000 figure. It costs a little to entertain them, but surely when an international organisation selects Ireland as the place for its conference, we must bid them welcome and give them some little entertainment. We try to keep this within limits, and of course we do not do it on anything like as elaborate a scale as it is done in other countries. We try to give them a decent welcome in keeping with our size and our purse.

Vote put and agreed to.