Vol. 507 No. 4
74 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has responded to the report prepared by the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants and the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas concerning the status of Irish emigrants to Britain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13800/99]
The report is about the planning of services for Irish emigrants generally, not just for those in Britain. It contains useful information, observations and conclusions which merit serious consideration by those of us with responsibilities regarding emigrants.
The main considerations to which the report draws attention are that emigration is still a feature of Irish society, to the extent of about 20,000 people a year, 56 per cent of whom are in the 15 to 24 age group; that among those emigrants are a distinct stream of relatively unskilled and poorly qualified people who go to Britain and, to a lesser extent, to the US and who are in need of Irish welfare services; that Irish emigrants to Britain have been less successful and fortunate than other immigrant communities there, especially with regard to employment, housing, health and occupational and social mobility; and that the number of undocumented Irish emigrants in the US is increasing again.
Criticisms in the report of the Government's role regarding emigration and emigrants include that there is a deficit of information about emigration trends and the social factors associated with it; that the Interdepartmental Committee on Emigration is not pro-active in policy-making and does not have an interface with non-governmental organisations; that policy-making is not linked to the national anti-poverty strategy; that funding of Irish voluntary organisations abroad is inadequate and originates in two different Departments; that the situation of Irish people in Britain has not yet been raised in a systematic way with the British authorities; and that Ireland is not party to some international legal instruments relevant to emigrants interests.
