Vol. 478 No. 1
29 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will increase funding to an Irish immigration centre (details supplied); if his attention has been drawn to the consequences of welfare reform and immigration reform on Irish immigrants; and the action, if any, he is taking on these issues. [10704/97]
30 Miss Coughlan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide additional funding towards the running costs of the Irish Immigration Centre in Boston in view of their increased needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10717/97]
The Irish Immigration Centre, Boston, is one of many organisations in the US providing excellent advice and information services to Irish immigrants. The fact that, since 1990, grants amounting to US$1.6 million have been paid to such groups from the Vote for Foreign Affairs is evidence of our recognition of and support for the valuable services they provide. The Irish Immigration Centre, Boston, received grants of $25,000, $34,500 and $35,500 in the past three years.
I am aware of the importance of Irish Government grants to these organisations and £150,000 of the £165,000 provided for in subhead C of the Vote for Foreign Affairs this year is intended for further grants for them the balance, being for organisations in Australia. An application from the immigration centre, Boston, for a grant in 1997 will be carefully and sympathetically considered.In the context of the prevailing budgetary circumstances, I will continue to look as sympathetically as possible at the level of overall funding in the future.
Through the Embassy in Washington, I am monitoring the effects on Irish immigrants of the recent reforms in welfare and immigration legislation in the US. In consultation with the voluntary organisations and with our many friends in Congress, the Embassy, as well as the Consulates-General in Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, are seeking to have the immigration legislation amended so that it will continue to be possible for Irish people already in the US to regularise their legal status without having to leave the country.
