Deputy Enright gave notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of the plight of young Irish men and women as outlined on the RTE news programme last week.
Adjournment Debate. - Young Irish Emigrants in Britain.
At the outset I would like to thank you for granting me permission to raise this most serious matter on the Adjournment. With the agreement of the House I propose to share my time with Deputies Naughten and Deenihan.
If that is agreeable, Deputy Enright has ten minutes, Deputy Naughten has five minutes and Deputy Deenihan five minutes.
Each year in the last two years in excess of 40,000 people have emigrated from Ireland. Little has been said of these fine young men and women who are leaving our shores. Let us be clear that these are not statistics but real flesh and blood people with hopes and desires going to Britain or America with aspirations of making a success of their lives. Many of our young people have become very successful and are leading figures in industry, banking, building, medicine, teaching, television and radio in the UK and the US. They are the people we hear of on a regular basis.
However, the television programme on RTE last week presented the other side of the coin. This was devastating. For the first time we saw a side of life in Britain that we here in Ireland have closed our eyes to. Jill Fahey is to be admired for having the courage to let us see at first hand the plight of our young people and the terrible tragedy of emigration as it exists for them leaving home and going to Britain. Countless thousands of our kith and kin are now being forced to live in sub-human conditions. One can live for a while in such circumstances but over a period of time one's health is bound to deteriorate and can be irreparably damaged. The thought of people eating and living in the conditions outlined in that programme alarmed me, as did the working conditions of our young people on building sites. The scenes of people being hired for work reminded me of the days of the spailpín fánach here in Ireland. It was like looking at scenes from the last century, and those scenes were repulsive.
It came across on this programme on Friday last that 150 Irish people died as a result of accidents while working on the building sites in Britain last year. What do we have to do to prevent this occurring this year? Unless something is done it is probable that 150 more of our young people will die in similar accidents. This is a desperate indictment of safety standards on building sites in Britain; but it is an even greater indictment of our Government who are witnessing this.
In the past Irish Governments have had a passive attitude to emigration. What worries me now is that it appears that the Government have a vested interest in emigration. These young people leaving our shores remove thousands of people from the unemployment register and this allows the Government to publicise a fall in unemployment. One person on that programme used the word "criminal" to describe what is happening. Our emigrants want us to utilise our energy and our finances to provide jobs here in Ireland. It is our duty to do so to save these young people from the loneliness, deprivation and exploitation that thousands are suffering from at the moment.
In my constituency in rural Ireland one can stand at the back of a church or at the back of a crowd and look in front of one and see children up to the age of 17, and older people of 45 and upwards. One sees nobody in between, or very few, because most of the young people are leaving. Hurling, soccer and rugby clubs are being devastated. Families and whole communities are being torn apart. That is what is happening and it is our duty to provide answers, to provide jobs and prevent this occurring. This is happening before our eyes and it is time something was done about it. Whole generations are leaving. Many a parent watching that programme must have wondered if that was his son living in those conditions without cooking, heating or toilet facilities or anything else. We need to realise that these are the conditions under which our young people are living in Britain and to do something to prevent it happening. We must provide assistance for them when they get to Britain. That is the message that came across on that programme. The young people must have the choice to live and work in the country of their birth. That is their right.
Unless we do something to provide those jobs more and more of our young people will be forced to leave Ireland and live in those sub-human conditions. Can you imagine, a Cheann Comhairle, the worry and dread of any parent watching that programme wondering if that is his child living in such conditions. They are somebody's children and that is why we must do something to prevent it happening. We must do whatever we can in the intervening period to provide advice and assistance in Britain. The changes that have taken place there in the social services have made a bad situation worse for many of our young people. The Minister should see the British Ambassador and bring home to him with the necessary forcefulness the urgency of the situation. The Taoiseach should have discussions with the Prime Minister of Great Britain to see what action can be taken to ensure that our young people, who are helping to build that country, will be given an opportunity to live in normal conditions with the dignity that human beings are entitled to. This is a very urgent matter.
First I want to thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for giving us the opportunity to discuss this very important matter here tonight. I also want to thank Deputy Enright for sharing his time with me and Deputy Deenihan. As Deputy Enright has pointed out, we are all well aware of the cancer of emigration at present sweeping Irish society and wiping out whole communities, particularly in the west. I cannot understand why a greater effort has not been made to create more jobs in rural communities. The Government have failed to provide the necessary finance to create jobs and to encourage job creation in many of the rural areas. If one picked up the paper in the last 12 to 18 months one could read of several job announcements in Dublin, Cork and elsewhere but unfortunately areas such as Roscommon, which I represent, have been totally ignored. The young community in that area have no option but to emigrate.
As Deputy Enright has rightly pointed out, one only has to go to Mass on a Sunday where one sees children up to their late teens but there is nobody to be seen between that age group and 40 because they have taken the emigration boat to Britian and are working in London, Birmingham, Coventry and elsewhere. As Deputy Enright also pointed out, many of these people have not made their fortunes there either. Some of them live under very poor conditions and work very long hours to try to keep body and soul together. We are all well aware of the undocumented Irish in New York, Boston and elsewhere in the United States, many of whom work in slave labour conditions simply because they have not the necessary documentation and are not free to seek jobs on the labour market which would give them adequate reward.
We now find that elderly parents are left at home alone, all their sons and daughters having emigrated, whereas in the fifties and sixties when we experienced emigration, some of the children stayed at home to look after their elderly parents. The present emigration trend will have a huge impact in the future on society and on social structures in the west in particular. When we are discussing the plight of many of our Irish emigrants, I would appeal to the Minister and the Government to use their offices to alleviate the major hardships which many of those emigrants face when they go abroad. Major difficulties arise with accommodation. Unfortunately, many people do not make adequate provision for accommodation before they emigrate and do not have adequate finance to tide them over the first three to four weeks when they are looking for employment and accommodation. Many emigrate without having contacts abroad and some, who may have an address, find that the person has moved on to another address when they arrive and they then have to revert to the Irish centres.
Recently I had the privilege of visiting the Irish Centre in Camden Town and I was very impressed with the work being done by the Irish community there. That centre provided me with a document highlighting the difficulties which emigrants face when they go there and also the age structures of emigrants. It is frightening to see the number of teenagers who arrive in London without any skill. Inevitably these people have to go back to school to learn a skill or a trade before they become employable.
We see the terrible tragedy of families who are heartbroken because of this trail of emigration. Of late we seem to have come to accept emigration and have given up the ambition of creating sufficient jobs here for the large numbers of young people who are coming onto the employment market each year. It is only fair to recognise that of those who emigrate, probably 25 per cent emigrate by choice. Very often their pals are forced to emigrate and they leave jobs to follow them.
I appreciate that Deputy Deenihan wants to contribute to this debate. In conclusion, I would appeal to the Minister and the Government to tackle this problem and see what can be done to alleviate the problems of many of our young people who are emigrating. If they must emigrate the Government should make sure that they are adequately equipped to take up a job abroad. One of the major problems at present arises when somebody opts out of education at 15 or 16 years of age and it is impossible to get them back into the training system because a certain standard is required for FÁS training schemes and so on. I would appeal to the Minister to address this problem.
First, I would like to cite a few statistics from a survey carried out last year by the action group for Irish youth in London. It was discovered that of the total number of emigrants to England, four out of every five were from a city, city suburb or a town; 72 per cent had experienced unemployment since leaving school and prior to emigrating; 50 per cent had relatives living in Britain at some stage; 61 per cent had travelled to London alone; 34 per cent had less than £30 on arrival and 70 per cent had less than £100. The basic cost of surviving in London is £95 per week. Many of the people who arrive in London are very insecure and vulnerable. The survey also showed that 57 per cent of emigrants made no definite arrangements for accommodation; 17.5 per cent spent their first night sleeping rough and 79 per cent were still unemployed two months after their arrival in London. Before Christmas it was revealed that over 1,000 young Irish people sleep rough in London every night. Those statistics speak for themselves.
I was fortunate to be a member of a delegation that travelled to London on 11 January, along with Deputies Dukes, Barry and Jim Higgins, the Fine Gael Chief Whip. We saw for ourselves the conditions under which Irish emigrants are living. We visited centres such as Harringay Irish Community Care Centre, the Irish Centre in Camden Square, Conway House Hostel for males and St. Louise's Hostel for females. We met the action group for Irish youths on that occasion and we also travelled to Birmingham and Manchester. We witnessed the problems experienced by young Irish emigrants, which were highlighted on television last week.
The two major problems are accommodation and employment. The cost of rented accommodation in England at present is astronomical and is out of the reach of the majority of young people who arrive in London with little money in their pockets. For example, if you want to take a bedsitter you have to pay four weeks in advance — the cheapest is about £35 a week — and you also have to pay four weeks' deposit, totalling about £280. If you want to rent a flat it costs at least £50 a week and again you have to pay four weeks in advance and £200 deposit, totalling £400, which is beyond the reach of most young Irish emigrants.
There is also the phenomenon of families leaving this country. One agency alone received 185 inquiries last year. It would be safe to say that up to 1,000 families have left this country in the past year or two. As Deputies Naughten and Enright have said, this has a devastating effect on Irish society.
The cost of accommodation in England is doubling at present and it is estimated that that trend will continue. There is also a problem with some of the older Irish emigrants who left in the forties and fifties. They are being forced out of their accommodation now by the landlords who are getting more money from the new wave of emigrants.
I would be grateful if the Deputy would now bring his speech to a close. The time has come to call the Minister.
These people are being marginalised. The need is for money for accommodation. I know this is against the philosophy of the Government but the remit of DÍON should be extended to include hostel accommodation as well.
I listened to what the Deputies have said and I thank them for putting their points of view to me. I can assure them that the Government fully share their concern for the welfare of all our emigrants — whether in London or elsewhere. I accept that, despite all the warnings and publicity about the dangers of going abroad without proper preparation, some young people still leave the country ill-prepared and get into difficulties on their arrival, particularly in a large city like London. I have seen such situations at first hand. I have visited most, if not all, of the various emergency centres in London which help young people who get into difficulties, whether about accommodation, work, social security entitlements and so on.
I know the trauma they experience and their anxieties in trying to cope and come to terms with a vastly different society and way of life. However, it is necessary to place such situations in their proper context. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of Irish people going to Britain do not get into trouble or encounter problems. Most of them adjust very successfully to their new environment and are able to get a job and a place to stay very quickly.
Secondly, the problem of homelessness among migrants to London is a very complex one. A major world capital such as London has an attraction for young people, not only from Ireland but from all over the world, who flock to it for all kinds of reasons, many of which may have little to do with work.
Young people who are unhappy at home, who have fallen out with their families, who want to avoid responsibilities or sometimes to avoid the police, may end up in London. That has been proved in numerous surveys. A city like London can be an exciting and glamorous place if one has enough money, a job and a place to stay in. Otherwise, it is an inhospitable and hostile urban jungle with all sorts of risks and dangers for those who are not particularly streetwise.
The accommodation situation in London is now so serious that many people in employment cannot afford a place to live. I hope that young people who have seen these programmes on RTE will take heed of that message. As Minister for Labour, my message over the last two years has been clear and direct. If you are under 18, do not go. If you do not have accommodation fixed up in advance, do not go. If you do not have the skills, qualifications and sufficient money to ensure a reasonable chance of success, do not go.
Both the Government and various voluntary agencies have attempted in many ways to get this message across. In 1987 I launched an information and advice service for intending emigrants: this is now provided through FÁS. It aims at giving the maximum help and advice to anyone considering emigration and to help them decide if emigration is a sensible choice given their particular circumstances. It helps them prepare carefully so as to avoid the pitfalls and, where appropriate, FÁS may be able to use their contacts with other European Community employment services, including the British one, to help the intending emigrant find a job. Furthermore, FÁS are in the process of a major up-grading of their predeparture advisory services for intending emigrants. Those for whom emigration appears to be a particular risk are most strongly advised against going. A special module, aimed at warning of the dangers of unplanned and thoughtless emigration, has been included in appropriate FÁS courses.
Concern had been expressed in recent years about the problems faced by early school leavers, including that of emigration. It was suggested that some went to Britian to secure unemployment assistance — although such persons will not now qualify for social security benefits in Britain. In an attempt to provide practical help for such youngsters, my colleague Deputy O'Rourke, Minister for Education, and I launched the Youthreach Programme. This is an offer to unqualified early school leavers of up to two years' further education and training with allowances being paid during this period. We considered that not only would Youthreach help young people secure a foothold in the world of employment, it would make staying here and acquiring meaningful education and training an attractive alternative to emigration. My Department, on the advice of DÍON, the advisory committee on emigrant welfare, have provided an annual grant to Emigrant Advice, located in Cathedral Street in Dublin, which is also involved in preventing thoughtless and ill-prepared emigration. In addition, the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Fahey, has made a grant of £20,000 to enable Emigrant Advice provide an information pack, including a video film for use in schools and educational institutions. This year, I shall be allocating, on the advice of DÍON, £500,000 in grants to voluntary agencies concerned with the welfare of Irish emigrants. This is a 100 per cent increase on last year's allocation and a 320 per cent increase on the 1986 allocation. In 1988, the £250,000 allocation to DÍON went to help fund 15 different organisations.
This is a clear indication of the Government's concern for young people. There is, however, a real difficulty to which I should like to draw the attention of the House. The Government cannot, nor do they wish to, stop any citizen from leaving the country if that is the choice of the person concerned. Our policy has been to offer advice, information and help. It is not possible to force citizens to use the services available. Many of the difficulties now being encountered might have been avoided had the young persons concerned sought the help available from FÁS and other agencies before taking the step of emigrating.
At the same time, I fully share the concern at the dreadful situation these young people now find themselves in. I have drawn the attention of DÍON to my concern about this problem and asked the committee to bear this in mind when discussing their much increased allocation of funds with the voluntary bodies who have applied for grants. I know that the staff of the Irish Embassy in London liaise with social workers in Britain about problems such as these.
The voluntary emigrant welfare agencies are fully aware of the acute housing situation in the London area and for some time, have been actively engaged in trying to provide relief for Irish people affected.
Here, I must pay tribute to the excellent work done by CARA, the Irish homeless project. CARA was founded five years ago as a registered charity with their own director, researcher and administrator. Their main objective is to get an accurate assessment of the needs of the homeless Irish emigrants and, on that basis, to develop temporary supportive housing within the context of an overall resettlement programme.
In the space of three years CARA have persuaded local and central government to invest in a programme of hostel development worth over £2 million. Annual revenue grants of £100,000 have also been secured. They are now embarking on a futher project to get immediately, a bigger allocation of the available housing and hostel provision — 600 bed spaces — for Irish youth. They also aim to pursue a longer term programme of development of specialist hostel and housing provision for vulnerable Irish people.
CARA have developed an information project designed to increase public awareness of Irish youth homelessness by alerting relevant statutory bodies, such as local authorities and housing corporations, to the problems facing young people from Ireland. They also aim to persuade such bodies to adopt an action plan to confront these problems and to work with them in its development and implementation.
In order to ensure the success of such a project it is necessary to have facts and solid information to convince statutory bodies of the scale of the problem. Most voluntary agencies have neither the capacity nor skills to undertake such a task. CARA have agreed to carry out a comprehensive study of the extent and nature of homelessness among the Irish community in London with a view to formulating a strategy to tackle the problem in a comprehensive and cohesive way. I understand that DÍON also support this exercise.
I know other voluntary organisations are also actively involved and totally committed to trying to come to grips with the housing situation in London which affects not only Irish emigrants or others from outside Great Britain, but is also a major problem for anyone coming from outside the London commuting area.
In conclusion, I should say that the main thrust of Government policy is aimed at tackling the basic cause of emigration, which is the lack of sufficient employment opportunities to enable Irish people find work here. The Government believe that no one should feel obliged to leave Ireland because of financial necessity arising from unemployment.
That said, we must face facts. Although the indications are that the economy is on a sounder base, with unemployment figures dropping and employment figures growing, as shown from labour force surveys, this growing strength is not translating itself into employment as fast as we would wish. I have stressed the importance, in a number of recent speeches, of the private sector playing their role in creating more employment. The Government have created the right climate and now looks for the appropriate response, in particular from those companies who are expanding and investing abroad, rather than at home. In the meanwhile, we are faced with, and will continue to tackle, the problem of emigration. I have noted the concerns expressed here this evening by Deputies Enright, Naughten and Deenihan. I shall bear them in mind in my consultations with emigrant organisations and in the ongoing review of the effectiveness of State assisted advisory services.
The figures quoted by Deputy Deenihan were accurate, but lest they give rise to confusion, I would make the Deputy aware that the survey by the action group for Irish youth, which the Deputy mentioned, was a sample survey based on interviews with people already staying in hostels, rather than Irish people emigrating. That is an important distinction to make based on the statistics the Deputy mentioned. I accept the Deputy's statistics in that context.
I thank the Deputies for raising these points and I assure them that in centres like Camden Town FÁS have had a direct involvement in providing facilities for the older Irish emigrants whom Deputy Deenihan talked about. I accept the Deputy's point that a lot of Irish people who emigrated in the thirties and forties are now in difficulties. We have to continue to work to solve that problem. I accept the points made by the Deputies in good faith and we will continue to do all we can to help.
The Dáil adjourned at 10.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 17 May 1989.