asked the Minister for Social Welfare if any further consideration has been given to the idea of appointing social welfare attachés at Irish embassies or consulates abroad where there is a high incidence of Irish emigrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Advisory and Information Services for Emigrants.
7.
Information on social welfare entitlements can be obtained from all Irish embassies abroad and most embassies carry stocks of the Department's main information guide. Where the information sought cannot be answered immediately the relevant embassy will contact my Department, through the Department of Foreign Affairs. I am satisfied that this arrangement is adequate and is working satisfactorily and that the incidence of social welfare queries would not justify the appointment of a full-time officer in any of our embassies or consulates.
As the Deputy will know, there is already a labour attaché in the United Kingdom to maintain contact with Irish workers there. In addition a special attaché was apointed in the United States of America last September to look after matters relating to the legal status, welfare and health concerns of Irish emigrants there.
I am of course concerned from a social welfare point of view about the situation of Irish emigrants who have to go abroad and also from the broader perspective of other problems which they may have. However, rather than tackle this issue on a piecemeal basis the Government have decided to establish a special interdepartmental committee under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Affairs which will co-ordinate Government activities in relation to emigrants and in particular the provision of advisory and information services for intending emigrants and those already abroad. My Department will be represented on this committee and through the efforts of the committee I hope to receive regular reports on any social welfare matters which are giving rise to problems for Irish emigrants. Appropriate measures to deal with problems which are identified will be decided on the basis of these reports.
Would the Minister not agree that a largely unreported aspect of our emigration problem is the number of young Irish people who are sleeping under arches or in very seedy conditions in great social distress in places like London, Amsterdam, New York and Boston? Rather than a global payment to help Irish emigrants, would he not agree that there is a strong case for having social welfare attachés in these centres to which there is high Irish emigration in order to alleviate the worst aspects of this social adversity, about which we hear so little in the media?
I agree that there are social welfare problems among some of the emigrants. For this reason I went to London to acquaint myself directly with what was happening. We would be anxious through the Department of Foreign Affairs and through the labour attaché in London to give any assistance we could. The authorities there have a responsibility in regard to the social security and social assistance systems and we must ensure that they carry out their responsibilities in relation to anybody who may be short. We can provide a back-up support. Funds are provided through the DÍON Committee for short-term assistance while people are becoming established in London. The amount of that fund has been increased from £150,000 to £250,000. The adequacy of that support will be considered by the committee under the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The Minister seems to be extremely complacent about this very serious problem. I spent four days in London last week looking at this problem. It is a problem of grave proportions, not only in London but in other cities. We also have the problem of emigrant families leaving Ireland who are returned home by the authorities in Britain. Because they have no fixed abode in Britain they do not qualify for what used to be called supplementary benefit. They are in dire straits and do not even have their fare home. Would the Minister not agree that there is an urgent need for people from his Department to be sent to these sensitive posts abroad?
I have outlined the action the Government are taking.
It is too little.
A committee has been established to co-ordinate the activities of the different Departments. An important aspect is the provision of adequate advice to people before they go abroad. We in the Department of Social Welfare have done a certain amount to provide this advice through some of our grants to emigrant advice centres. In addition, FÁS have produced a booklet giving information and advice. The Department of Foreign Affairs will, of course, make arrangements for people who have to come back home. The Government are taking this matter very seriously and are co-ordinating the activities of the various Departments through this committee.