Vol. 564 No. 1
178 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the statistics his Department refers to when deciding the allocation of funds to Irish emigrant welfare associations; the approximate number of emigrants in the USA and Australia, respectively; and when and the means by which these figures were compiled. [8915/03]
Decisions on the allocation of funds to Irish emigrant welfare agencies in the USA and Australia are based on specific needs rather than statistical considerations. In the USA the welfare groups submit grant proposals to the consulates in New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, setting out their estimate of the level of demand for their services. The embassy in Washington and the consulates submit recommendations on these proposals taking into account their local knowledge of the needs of the Irish community.
In the case of Australia, recommendations are submitted by the embassy in Canberra and the consulate in Sydney on the basis of requests from the welfare bureaux in Melbourne, Sydney and Wollongong. These recommendations are considered by my Department in the context of available resources and are submitted for my approval. The number of Irish-born people born in the US was approximately 220,000 in 1990 based on US census figures. The CSO estimates that approximately 61,000 people emigrated to the US in the period 1990 to 2001.
In 1996 the Australian census recorded that 74,494 people born on the island of Ireland reside permanently in Australia. In addition, approximately 11,000 Irish citizens are in Australia on the working holiday programme at any one time.
