I fully appreciate the Minister's difficulty about not having a copy of his speech available and I do not want to be in any way churlish in my reference to it but it is rather difficult in dealing with Estimates of this sort under particular subheads to follow what the Minister is saying without having the opportunity of reading a copy of his speech.
So far as this Supplementary Estimate goes, we are not objecting to providing the money for the objects the Minister has mentioned. I wish to take the opportunity to speak in relation to subhead D as it seems to me I am in order in raising this matter on this Supplementary Estimate. I wish to say a few words generally on emigrant welfare and to inquire if the Government propose to do anything concrete on that subject, particularly in relation to Great Britain. We are providing an additional £3,000 under subhead D for the repatriation and maintenance of destitute Irish persons abroad. I want to express the view to the Minister that there is a responsibility on the Irish Government to keep a watchful and careful eye with regard to Irish people who, for one reason or another, find that they have to emigrate.
This is quite apart and distinct from the occasional case—perhaps it is more than occasional—where a person finds himself involved in some cycle of events abroad, such as an accident or something of that sort, in which he loses all his possessions and money and requires assistance to get home. That kind of case is dealt with by our representatives abroad and dealt with very adequately, but what I am concerned with here is the acceptance by the Government of responsibility for assisting in such matters as welfare centres in England which cater for Irish emigrants and giving financial assistance to help organisations expand in such matters as hostel accommodation and community centres. All this is the kind of work which it would be proper for the Government to undertake through the Department of External Affairs. It seems to me that if this kind of work was undertaken by the Government we would not, in an Estimate of this sort, have to refer so much to the question of destitute Irish persons abroad because we would as a country, and the Government as the Government of the country, would be showing concern for the continued welfare of these people. It is right to say, speaking on behalf of the Fine Gael Party, that we have made it clear in the policy we published on emigration welfare that we would accept responsibility for assisting in the provision of welfare centres in England and we would, as a Government, accept responsibility for providing financial assistance to existing organisations who wish to expand accommodation in hostels and community centres in England.
Subhead D deals with what I have been talking about, repatriation and maintenance of Irish people abroad, and subhead F deals with information services. The information services referred to by the Minister are not quite the same type of information services I have in mind. I think it is necessary and desirable that a Government concerned with the continued welfare of emigrants should establish an advisory service drawn from the various voluntary organisations—I am concerned here particularly with England—dealing with Irish emigrants there. An advisory council should be able to make available both to the people at home and to the Government, and through the Government to those who are contemplating emigrating, information with regard to a whole variety of matters such as the prospects for employment, the prospects for housing accommodation, where a person is emigrating with his family, and other matters of that sort. To my mind this would be a very valuable type of information service to make available and I would urge on the Minister that it should be considered by him in relation to his Department.
On the question of official entertainment, the Minister mentioned this as a reflection of the success of his Department in promoting this country as a venue for international conferences. This is very valuable work which is being done by the Minister's Department and if the increase in numbers, I think the figure the Minister mentioned was an increase from 18 to 81 approximately, can be attributed reasonably directly to an expenditure under this heading then it seems to me the net gain to the country is well worth it. The holding of international conferences of one sort or another here is the kind of thing that not only by the actual holding of the conference assists our economy in a small way but through the aftermath, in publicising the country, it can also be of very great benefit to our economy and our balance of payments position. Therefore, although the wording of the phrase "official entertainment" is one about which some people might immediately feel cynical I think that, if there is a pay-off in terms of advantage to the country and to the economy, a recurring advantage in the form of boosting tourism and the consequent beneficial effects of that on our balance of payments position, then money of this sort is well spent.
I did not quite follow the Minister's references to subhead B which relates to travelling and incidental expenses. I understood him to say that it related principally to the transfer of officials abroad. I suppose that is moving from one assignment or embassy to another and things of that sort. Obviously that is an expense that must be incurred and it is our job to provide the money for it. I do not suppose it would be in order now but it might be as well to pose a general query about another matter. From time to time people inquire—and one must have sympathy with them, particularly at this time when appeals are being made by the Government—whether it is necessary to maintain the number of establishments and the size of the establishments we have abroad. I am not going to enter into a discussion on that at this stage but it would seem to be relevant because obviously if you are to reduce either the number or the size of our embassies or establishments abroad then the amount of money required for travelling and incidental expenses in this connection would be reduced. I simply pose the query in a general way to give the Minister an opportunity of dealing with it when replying. I know the case can be made that even where there does not appear to be particular need for an embassy, so far as the work of looking after the interests of Irish people in a particular country is concerned, nevertheless the existence of an Irish office, embassy or trade ambassador may prove effective from the general economic and trade point of view. Again, in terms of our balance of payments with other countries, from the trade point of view, if the return is to our advantage there is obviously justification in having representation even in cases where people might be inclined to raise their eyebrows at the existence of an Irish embassy or offices.