Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence debate -
Thursday, 22 Sep 2016

Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust: Mr. Colin Bell

Chairman

The purpose of today's meeting is a discussion with Mr. Colin Bell of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. On behalf of the joint committee, I extend a warm welcome to Mr. Bell. We are all very much aware of the excellent and valuable service provided by the trust to those persons affected by the loss of loved ones abroad. Following Mr. Bell's opening statement, there will be a questions and answers session during which he can expand on the work of the trust.

Before we begin, I remind members, witnesses and those in the Public Gallery to ensure their mobile phones are switched off completely for the duration of the meeting as they cause interference, even if on silent mode, with the recording equipment in this room. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official, either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. If, however, they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or an entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.

I now invite Mr. Bell to make his opening statement.

Mr. Colin Bell

I thank members for their attendance. In July 1984, I married my wife Eithne. In May 1985, we had twins, Seán and Ciara. The following July, we had another set of twins, Kevin and Brendan. Ten months later, Eamonn was born. A year later, Conor was born. We then had a daughter, Meave. In essence, we had seven children under the age of five, which gave us a certain notoriety in our home town of Newry.

On 15 June 2013, I celebrated my 60th birthday. I got up the following morning, Sunday, 16 June, to prepare for my family, including my mother and my sisters, Eithne's mother, father and sisters and others who were coming to the house to celebrate my 60th birthday. At approximately 10.45 a.m. I went to the back garden with two of my sons to erect a gazebo. At approximately 11.45 a.m. I was called into the front room of the house where Vinny and Caroline Toner were waiting for me with my wife Eithne. I was told to sit down and we were given the news that Kevin had been killed in a hit-and-run in New York during the night. We were lucky, I suppose, in that we did not get a cold call from America. Kevin had gone out there to his friend, who is Vinny and Caroline's son. When he heard the news that Kevin had been killed he contacted his mother and told her to break the news to us.

We are a well known family in the town. My father taught in the Christian Brothers school for 43 years and my mother was a teacher in the Sacred Heart school. I also taught in a school in the town for 40 years. Eithne was involved in drama circles and the children we all very well known. When the news broke in Newry that Kevin had been killed the whole town went into a frenzy of fund-raising. It was amazing. At a pub quiz on the Tuesday night, £42,000 was raised. On the Thursday night, there was a fun run and walk, from which £20,000 was raised. Kevin had been in Australia and a fund-raising event was held there. There were also fund-raising events in New York. Essentially, Kevin's employers paid for his body to be brought home and so we were left with the massive sum of £150,000 that had been fund-raised in less than a fortnight to bring Kevin's body home.

About a fortnight after Kevin's death, a young man from Carryduff was killed in Thailand. We contacted the family and offered to pay to have their son's body brought home and that is how the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust came about. We decided to use the money we had been given to help other families visited with the same tragedy as us. This was going to be Kevin's legacy and so we wanted to do it right and set about applying for charitable status. We are from County Down and as such our application was made to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. In January 2015, almost 18 months after we had applied, we got charitable status. Members will be aware that to be a charity, one has to prove need. The reason our application took so long was because the commission wanted us to means-test people while in the depths of despair and we were unwilling to agree to that. We were eventually given charitable status on a "relief of stress" basis. In other words, when a family contacts us we relieve them of the stress of arranging the repatriation of their loved one and we also pay for it.

It is just over three years since Kevin was killed. Since then, we have brought home more than 212 bodies. Members may recall that in November last eight young people died in Perth in Australia in the space of two weeks. All of those killed were young people and the deaths were totally unrelated, including two young lads from Omagh and Coleraine who were killed when a slab fell on them, a suicide, a young man killed in a car crash and another young man following a fall from scaffolding. Not only do we pay for the repatriation, we will arrange it. We take the process out of the hands of those who contact us.

I refer members to the growth of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. In the first year, starting from 16 June 2013 when Kevin was killed to 16 June 2014, the trust repatriated the bodies of 26 people. In the early days, not many people were aware of the trust or what it did and so we were reaching out to people at that stage. The trust operates on a Thirty-two County basis. When we hear about the death abroad of a person, we make contact with the parish priest, GAA club and so on in the area where the family lives. In the first year, we repatriated 26 bodies. In the second year, we repatriated 42 bodies. The trust was a little better known at that stage but we were still reaching out. In June 2015, we had a meeting with the then Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Deenihan. Previous to that we had a meeting with officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Despite our having repatriated 70 bodies at that stage, we had not had contact from the Department.

We were awarded the GAA President's Medal and decided we would introduce ourselves to the Department. We eventually got a meeting with the former Minister of State, Jimmy Deenihan, and as a result, every Irish consulate and embassy in the world was given our number. Since that meeting, the numbers using our help have really risen. A family may contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department will then give the family our number. When the family contacts us, that is when we do our business.

There have been repatriations from quite a lot of countries, including many young people from Australia and America. Originally, our aim, essentially, was to help young people but that is not the way it works. We will help everybody and anybody who needs our help. We draw a line at somebody who has lived in America for 70 years and whose dying wish was to be buried in Ireland as that is not what we do. Over the summer we took home an 87-year-old woman from Bulgaria who died while on holiday. We brought home a baby from Madrid who was stillborn seven months into the mother's pregnancy. We will help anybody who needs our help and the committee can see how we have helped with repatriations from many countries. The numbers going to Dublin or Belfast are quite big because they are cities.

We work on a 32-county basis. We have taken people home to the Falls Road and to the Shankill Road and do not discriminate. If people need our help, we will help them in any way we can. Costs vary, even within the same country. As a result of the expertise we have gained and because Australia has operations like the Claddagh Association in Perth and Irish welfare associations, whenever somebody dies in Australia, we are contacted. As the numbers are so great, we will have used certain undertakers previously who know us and the operation will run quite smoothly. It is the same for America. If somebody dies in the Far East or any country where there is a language difficulty, I will use the services of a professional repatriation company. We use a firm called Albin's in London and because of the amount of business we give it, unfortunately, the firm is very quick to go about its business in getting a body home as soon as possible when we contact it.

With respect to governance, I understand that lately, some charities have muddied the water for others. We are very much a family-run charity and none of us gets paid. None of us expects to be paid or wants it. Everything we did was from the kitchen table, with filing cabinets in the bedroom; the house was taken over by it so on 5 September, we moved to an office and employed an administrator. That is our only expense. Our trustees include chartered accountants, a credit union manager and Kevin's friends. They are all professional people. The governance is very tight. We meet monthly and everybody is well aware of where the money is going.

I was invited to speak to Deputies by Deputy Micheál Martin after providing help with a case in Cork. People are very much aware of us and are behind our work. We are family-run and nobody gets paid. I explain what I would like from the Government whenever I met Deputies. We have a family ethos so I would like every cent given to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust to go to what it was meant for. If a person gives a euro or a pound, 100 cent or 100 pence should go to that. I am not seeking funding or donations but rather something to cover the cost of the office and our part-time staff. I have quoted a figure of €30,000 per year. In the first year that would go to kitting out the office, as well as paying its running expenses and those of the part-time staff. The same €30,000 next year would get me either a second part-time staff member or one full-time staff member. The service we give to the Department is good and I am not asking too much. I thank the committee for its attention.

Chairman

I thank Mr. Bell sincerely for the presentation. I recognise it is difficult to come into a public forum, a committee of our national Parliament, and outline the great loss and tragedy inflicted on his family. Out of that particular tragedy, with his very generous nature and great magnanimity, Mr. Bell established this trust, which I know has done so much good work for so many families. I am familiar with some families in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan who are extremely appreciative to Mr. Bell and his family for the great assistance they were given when, unfortunately, they lost loved ones abroad. Throughout the country there is an awareness and appreciation of the work, particularly from the families which have unfortunately suffered terrible tragedies. Mr. Bell mentioned the trust has been involved with repatriating 210 bodies in a relatively short period, which demonstrates the great loss of life among the Irish community abroad, including people travelling or on holidays. The work done by the trust is of great importance to Irish society in general and particularly to our diaspora.

A number of members have indicated they would like to make short contributions or ask questions.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

I thank Mr. Bell for taking the time to come down and brief us on the great work done by the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust in memory of his son. I have a couple of questions if that is okay. In the presentation Mr. Bell mentioned that the trust has attained charitable status in Northern Ireland but the application in the Republic is still in process. Will Mr. Bell advise us as to its status and how long it has been with the charities regulator? Mr. Bell's request for some funding is something I would certainly support. We were advised by the consular division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that it does not have a fund per se but there is a grant available through the emigrant support programme. That might be something.

Has the trust applied? If so, at what stage is the application or has it been decided on?

I thank Mr. Bell for coming in and I thank the trust for all of the work it does on behalf of families at a difficult time when a tragedy unfortunately occurs.

Chairman

I will take a contribution from Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan before Mr. Bell replies.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

I wish to acknowledge that all this tremendous work stems from the loss of Mr. Bell's son, Kevin, who we remember today.

My question differs from Deputy O'Brien's. I note that the trust does not means test people. It is very difficult to ask that question, particularly when a family has suffered a loss. Mr. Bell made the point that if people have insurance, they will reimburse the trust later. Does that happen often? Some people do not take out insurance for various reasons. Has the trust rethought its view means testing? An amazing amount of money was fund-raised in two weeks. Does the trust still fund-raise? Apart from the money end of things, the fact that the trust looks after the arrangements must be commended. When people suffer a loss and they are not in the country concerned to deal with arrangements and do not know where to go, the trust provides an amazing service to those people who find themselves in difficulty.

Mr. Colin Bell

I thank the Deputy. We applied for charitable status in the South 18 months ago. When we met the then Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Deenihan, he said that he would do what he could to fast-track our application but nothing has happened. Every now and again, we inquire about charitable status. I think we satisfy all of the qualifying criteria. What was Deputy O'Brien's second question?

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

My second question was on the emigrant support programme through which the Department provides grants. Has the trust applied for a grant?

Mr. Colin Bell

We got a form from the emigrant support programme. The trust is a young charity and was only recognised as a charity in the North last January so its first set of accounts do not have to be submitted until January 2017. That meant we had no accounts and, therefore, were unable to furnish accounts thus precluding us from availing of the support programme. We will have accounts shortly. We do not seek an awful lot of money, to be honest.

Chairman

One does not need to be a registered charity to apply for assistance under the emigrant support programme. That may be one requirement that is not needed.

Mr. Colin Bell

I know but we could not furnish accounts, which were a prerequisite.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

Does the trust fund-raise?

Mr. Colin Bell

People fund-raise for us. It is amazing. There are fund-raisers going on throughout Ireland every weekend. I am here today but tomorrow night I will attend a Unionist mayor's ball in Newtownabbey, County Antrim. We brought his grandson home from Australia. On Sunday morning, I will be in Ballinlough, County Meath, for a truck run. On Sunday night, I will be in Dromahair, County Leitrim, to speak at a novena. Next week, I will attend a cheque presentation in Dungarvan, County Waterford. People throughout Ireland fund-raise for us all the time.

Fundraising is not a prerequisite in that when we bring someone home, we do not expect to be paid back but families do fund-raise. If the person who died was a member of the GAA, for example, the club will fund-raise. The trust is not short of money. All I would like is that every penny that we get is used for what it is meant for.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

What about insurance claims?

Mr. Colin Bell

Out of the 210 cases, we would have got four insurance claims back. When a young fella goes to Australia, he might be insured for the first year. A lot of people who go on holiday do not take out insurance and, unfortunately, some insurance companies invoke the small print at the bottom of the form.

Deputy Kathleen Funchion

Many of my questions have already been asked. I thank Mr. Bell for attending and for speaking to the committee. He was very brave to take on this task. He saw that there was extra money and he put it to good use, in particular ensuring that one can contact the trust no matter what part of the country one resides in.

I support what Mr. Bell has said. It is important that when people donate that they know 100% of their money goes to the cause. I can see why Mr. Bell wants to have the administrative side covered. Given that embassies give people the contact details for the trust, there is an onus on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide funding. The trust only seeks a small amount of money. The trust is doing excellent work to assist people who find themselves in difficulty. Some of my questions on charitable status have already been answered. My party fully supports what Mr. Bell has said and I commend him on the work of the trust.

Mr. Colin Bell

We are so lucky. We are a different type of charity because we do not have to employ people to fund-raise to get money for research. Every charity exists to fulfil a need. The trust is family-based and that is the whole ethos of our charity. That is the only reason I ask for money.

Deputy Seán Barrett

I congratulate Mr. Bell on the tremendous work done by the trust. I noted that his trust has been in touch with the consular division in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or, at least, it has been in touch with the trust. An emigrant support programme is in place and it is important the trust is registered with it not only in terms of possible funding but also because it could provide other assistance to the trust, or the trust could be of great assistance to it. Why has the trust never submitted a formal application? The unit has been in touch with the trust but it has not received a formal application.

Mr. Colin Bell

As I have said, it contacted me but we were unable to avail of the programme because we were not in a position to provide accounts.

Deputy Seán Barrett

The accounts are not the most important thing at the moment.

Mr. Colin Bell

They were, according to the form, and I spoke to them.

Deputy Seán Barrett

The note we have from the division says that the members of the team spoke to the trust to offer assistance with the application but no application was submitted by the trust.

Mr. Colin Bell

I spoke to them and in essence, I was told that I would have to supply our accounts, which I was unable to do. I was told I could apply next year.

Deputy Seán Barrett

Maybe the information the division gave us is incorrect.

Senator Mark Daly

I do not think there is a discrepancy between the information.

Deputy Seán Barrett

I respectfully suggest that we contact the consular division which put this matter on paper and clarify the matter for the trust.

I am anxious that the trust be registered. Whether Mr. Bell is in a position to supply accounts at present is a different issue. At least it should be formally registered.

Mr. Colin Bell

It is very much aware of us.

Chairman

This meeting will heighten awareness, if that is required.

Senator Billy Lawless

I thank Mr. Bell. The service he is providing is unbelievable. I live in Chicago and I am very involved with emigrant rights. There have been terrible tragedies in Chicago in the past number of years, including those involving the McShane girl from the North and the young O'Reilly boy from Galway. The traumatic circumstances when the parents travel over are heart rending. I am sure that happened with Mr. Bell. I certainly support the service he provides.

Mr. Bell raised some issues and it would be no harm for the committee to highlight them. Insurance is a massive problem with regard to young J1 visa holders in Chicago or elsewhere in the United States. Many of them do not realise that if they get injured and alcohol is involved, they are not covered. It is a major issue. There was an incident in Boston recently as well. It is our job to highlight that. When Mr. Bell speaks to the different organisations he deals with, will he please emphasise that their children should have proper insurance if they are travelling abroad? Tell them about the danger of alcohol, as they will not be covered by insurance if it is involved.

I am very aware of emigrant support because I am involved in organisations in Chicago that applied to the emigrant support unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It is a ferocious stickler, and rightly so, about accounts. That was the case for ourselves earlier for a number of years. We had to have everything down. It must be a meticulous application or it will not be granted. I strongly advise Mr. Bell to get his accounts together for an application to be made. Otherwise, it will not be granted.

I thank Mr. Bell and his family for the unbelievable service they are providing. It is just incredible.

Senator Mark Daly

I thank Mr. Bell for attending and for his work. I attended the presentation Deputy Micheál Martin organised and I heard much of what Mr. Bell said. It is extraordinary work. After the presentation, Deputy Martin, Mr. Bell and I had a discussion about appearing before this committee. I have been a member of this committee for a number of years and we had not heard about Mr. Bell's work, but this meeting, which the Chairman organised and the members supported, has done a great deal to highlight it. It was reported on "Morning Ireland" this morning, which again will make people aware that there is such support available. Obviously, during the trauma people experience they do not know where to go. Nothing can prepare one for such an event in one's life.

I agree with my colleagues on the application. We will support it and follow it up. When it is sent in, perhaps Mr. Bell will write to the Chairman and let us know that, even if there is a draft set of accounts. There appears to be some confusion but we will get clarity on that. I understand that the Department is very particular on the issue of money, as it should be, but Mr. Bell is seeking administrative costs to ensure that 100% of everything that is raised goes for its intended purpose.

The committee is working on its draft work programme at present and is due to discuss it this afternoon. As public representatives we have had varying degrees of interaction with our consular services abroad in situations such as this. Mr. Bell has more knowledge than all of the people in this room because he would have dealt with our consular service in every jurisdiction in the world where Irish people are located. It would be helpful to us in the committee, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and our citizens to have a standardised system that takes account of things that have gone right and things that have gone wrong. In one case I was obliged to interact with our consular services in certain countries and the response I got was less than enthusiastic. I was told that the person's remains would not be returned for two weeks. Absolutely nothing could be done. That was the response of our Department on the ground, yet when I phoned around and contacted the authorities directly, the remains were on the airplane three days later.

Mr. Bell understands how traumatic the event is in the first place, but delay adds to the trauma. When somebody has to wait, it heightens the sense of loss. Obviously, the person has flown out from Ireland to another country, they know nobody and often there is no support network, because the Irish embassy or even a consulate can be far away. It might not be an English speaking country so translators and the like, which might not be provided by our consulate, should be provided. I would welcome anything Mr. Bell can tell us on how we could provide a standardised system. I could not believe the response I received from our consul. Most of the service has been excellent, but there should be a standard whereby a citizen of the State can and should expect certain actions to be taken by our consulate in a country when a loved one passes away. They should not be told that there is nothing it can do. That is unacceptable. Mr. Bell's work has been outstanding and we are delighted to support him. However, his knowledge and assistance to us on what could be done better would greatly assist those who find themselves in a tragic situation such as the one in which Mr. Bell found himself.

Mr. Colin Bell

It is so important, and I believe this is an Irish trait, to get one's loved one home as quickly as possible. The longer it takes, the less chance one has of seeing the loved one and getting some type of closure. If it takes over two weeks, the chances of having an open coffin are very poor. I am aware of that myself. We were so lucky. Kevin was killed on the Sunday morning. My wife Eithne's cousin, Neasa Ní Dhomhnaill, lived in Manhattan. She knew many people and would not take "No" for an answer. His post mortem took place on Sunday afternoon. He was with the Armagh Gaelic team and its members drove her to every office that had to be visited. She would not leave each office until she got what she wanted. Kevin was brought home on an airplane on Tuesday night and was in our house on Wednesday morning, which was three days later. The relief to his mother of being able to hold his hand, the sense of calm and the sense that he was home and safe were just amazing. If a family does not have that, it is an awful loss.

Deputy Noel Grealish

I thank Mr. Bell for attending. I sympathise with him on the loss of his son, Kevin. Unfortunately, every Member of the Oireachtas has received telephone calls from loved ones, family members and constituents regarding the death of somebody abroad. The first call is to us and then we call the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I acknowledge the tremendous work the Department does for families that have lost a loved one abroad. There is a huge Irish community in the UK, Australia and the United States and the community rallies around and provides tremendous support to the family of the person who has died. Unfortunately, however, that support is not there in far eastern countries and there is a great deal of red tape. Sometimes, as Mr. Bell rightly said, we do not have consular services in the country and one might have to contact another country. It is great to know that one can contact somebody with Mr. Bell's experience.

I understand the issue with fundraising. In such a tragic situation it is amazing how the people in the United States, Britain and Australia rally around. The people at home also rally around. The first issue, and it is something that is in the Irish blood, is how to pay to get the person home. This is particularly the case with the GAA. The tremendous amount of work done by the GAA must be acknowledged. Mr. Bell mentioned the Armagh team Kevin played for and how it rallied around and helped. I dealt with a case recently in which a young guy on his way home from Australia decided, as is the usual case, to travel through the Far East and visit a number of countries.

Unfortunately, he was in a serious accident - I believe it was in Vietnam - and lost a leg. The family did not have the means to bring him home but the community rallied around and he got home. He is now doing well. Has Mr. Bell considered extending the scope to help families such as these? As Senator Lawless stated, and as I have said previously, we cannot emphasise enough how important it is to have insurance but many young people do not believe it is crucial. It is also important that we know about the issue regarding drink. Has Mr. Bell considered broadening the scope to include people seriously injured in accidents? The necessary funds may not be there within the community or family to bring an individual home. Has this been considered?

Mr. Colin Bell

We receive many requests. Yesterday, we received a request from a Deputy regarding a young fellow in Canada who suffered a brain injury. We can contribute to these cases but our mission statement is to bring home bodies. If we had more than enough money, we would consider bringing home seriously injured people but we must consider the cost of air ambulances. A particular family was quoted approximately £40,000 to bring somebody home from Spain. We are well supported but if this cost arose two or three times, we would be wiped out. It is heartbreaking for us. We receive requests and we can offer donations towards the cost, but it is far outside our league to be honest. We also receive requests regarding, for example, the repatriation of a Polish or Lithuanian person who has been killed in car crash in Ireland having lived here for years. We can only go through our mission statement. We can make a donation in such a case but there is only so much we can do.

Chairman

I assure Mr. Bell that we will again take up with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade the possibility of drawing down financial assistance from the emigrant support programme. In his opening statement, Mr. Bell emphasised proper governance standards. Naturally, the Department is rigorous with regard to public expenditure, as we all advocate. We understand the need for accounts and relevant funding streams.

We will take up with the charity regulator the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust's application for charity status. I sincerely hope we can advance this. We can write as a committee, those of us who are Deputies can table parliamentary questions and our colleagues in the Seanad can also raise the issue. Mr. Bell will have the full support of the committee and its members in advancing the application.

In the past I heard the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, speak about insurance and creating awareness of the need to have travel insurance. This was referred to by Deputies O'Sullivan and Grealish and Senator Lawless. At our upcoming meetings we will discuss the Department's draft strategy for the coming years, which we received yesterday. Perhaps we can place particular emphasis on this in the Department strategy so that there will be a continuous effort to create awareness among people who are travelling on the need to maintain their insurance. They may have insurance for the journey out but for no longer than that, or it may expire while they are travelling. We need to create awareness about this, particularly when so many people travel. Unfortunately, some emigrate to seek employment. However, more and more people travel for recreational purposes such as sightseeing and visiting friends abroad. There is a huge movement of people and the insurance issue is something about which we need to create better awareness.

Mr. Bell and his colleagues see the absolute support they have from the committee for their work and also the appreciation of the outstanding work Mr. Bell and his family and other support groups have done to help ease the plight of so many families who unfortunately have suffered tragedies. In counties Cavan and Monaghan, which I represent, the work of the trust has been very beneficial in repatriating bodies. The families and local communities subsequently raise major funding to assist the work. Not only does the family appreciate the support, so does the broader community. As I stated, the committee will fully support Mr. Bell to the greatest extent possible in the extremely valuable work he does. We thank him very much for attending. I emphasise that Mr. Bell has been very magnanimous and generous in coming here to outline how the birth of the repatriation trust came about in the most tragic of circumstances for him and his family. We sincerely thank him for coming before the committee.

Mr. Colin Bell

I thank the Chairman and members. I really appreciate it.

The joint committee went into private session at 3.30 p.m. and adjourned at 4.40 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Thursday, 6 October 2016.