Irish emigrants have made an enormous contribution to the development of this country. It was in recognition of this contribution that the Government agreed with the social partners, in the context of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, to establish the task force on policy regarding emigrants. The focus of the task force and of its report was directed towards protecting and supporting those Irish emigrants abroad who are particularly marginalised or at greatest risk of exclusion.
Following receipt of the task force report, I established an interdepartmental working group to consider the task force's recommendations with a view to the submission of proposals for further action to the Government. This group has met on a number of occasions and I expect to receive its report before Christmas.
I was pleased to announce last week that I have secured an additional provision of €1 million in the Estimates for my Department for next year for services to emigrants. This represents an increase of one third in the existing allocation in my Department's Vote for these services.
This increase is a further step in the implementation of the report of the task force and it confirms the Government's commitment in this area. I intend that the additional funds will be concentrated on improving services for the more vulnerable among our emigrants who require special assistance and support.
In line with the task force report, I also want to help the voluntary and statutory agencies involved in providing services to emigrants to work more closely together to improve the overall impact and effectiveness of their work.
