Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 7 Oct 1993

Vol. 434 No. 3

Written Answers. - British-Irish Interparliamentary Body Report.

Enda Kenny

Question:

82 Mr. E. Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if the report entitled the Irish in Britain produced by the British Irish Parliamentary Body has been considered in his Department; the proposals contained in the report that it is intended to act upon; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

As the Deputy is aware, I was a member of the British-Irish interparliamentary body and chairman of its committee on economic and social issues which in May, 1991 produced the report to which he refers. Two of the nine recommendations in the report are addressed to the British authorities; the position with regard to the other seven is as follows:

(i) Recommendation: that the Irish Government seeks to maximise the employment content of economic policy so as to reduce the need for involuntary emigration.

As is clear from our Programme for Government and from the policies we are pursuing generally, the maximisation of employment is one of the Government's top priorities.

(ii) Recommendation: the establishment of a comprehensive database on the Irish in Britain and the exchange of information between Government Departments responsible for employment policy in the two countries.

The question of a database is under active consideration jointly by the Department of Enterprise and Employment here and the Department of Employment in London. The DÍON committee, an umbrella body of Irish immigrant assistance groups in Britain which reports to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, is currently compiling data to supplement the findings of the 1991 British census. A transfrontier committee under EC auspices, which includes representatives of FÁS and of their British counterparts, has been set up in London. An Official from FÁS based in the British employment service provides labour market information which FÁS passes on to potential emigrants.

(iii) Recommendation: that both governments consider further ways to assist voluntary bodies active in the field of advice and support to prospective emigrants and new arrivals.

An example of the efforts we are making, additional to the annual grants amounting to £500,000 provided through the DÍON Committee, is the funding of a special co-ordinator of community care development in the Federation of Irish Societies in London.

(iv) Recommendation: that the two Governments co-operate in establishing joint recognition of identity documentation.

The Department of Social Welfare and the British Department of Social Security are together examining how these proposals might be implemented.

(v) Recommendation: that the two Governments consider jointly ways of providing appropriate information through schools to would-be migrants.

In Ireland, FÁS has the main responsibility for providing pre-emigration advice. All FÁS training courses now include information on living and working abroad. An interdepartmental committee on emigration in Dublin and the transfrontier committee in London are actively considering other ways in which advice can be made available to potential emigrants.

(vi) Recommendation: an examination of ways in which voluntary bodies dealing with problems of homelessness might be further assisted.

This is being considered by the DÍON Committee subject to the constraints of available resources.

(vii) Recommendation: that a formal liaison committee between FÁS and their British counterparts be established.

The transfrontier committee to which I have already referred includes representatives of the two services and is performing very effectively the cooperative and co-ordination functions envisaged by the British-Irish Interparliamentary body.