Departmental Programmes.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 June 2004

Thursday, 24 June 2004

Questions (3)

Jerry Cowley

Question:

3 Dr. Cowley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the fact that the Safe Home organisation has assisted 288 Irish emigrants to return home to secure accommodation and that DION provides funding support to Safe Home towards repatriating UK emigrants and that Safe Home, which has been designated the national repatriation programme for Ireland, has applicants from among older Irish emigrants who qualify for repatriation under the Safe Home criteria who are based in countries other than Britain, some of whom have already been assisted to return here, he will consider providing additional funding in order that non-UK based older Irish eligible emigrants can be repatriated with the assistance of Safe Home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18267/04]

Oral answers (5 contributions)

Mr. Cowen

Funding for Irish emigrant welfare in Britain is provided annually by the Department of Foreign Affairs through the DION fund, which is administered by the DION committee and the Irish Embassy in London. DION has been providing financial assistance to the Safe Home programme for many years and funds totalling €82,530 were provided in 2003 to support part of the salaries of the three full-time staff. This was the maximum amount allowed per project in 2003. I am pleased that the DION committee has this year decided to raise the cap per project to €110,000, and that amount has been recommended for the Safe Home organisation. The DION grant recommendations for this year have been submitted to me for consideration and decisions will be made in the near future.

With the increasing ageing profile of the Irish-born population in Britain, there has been a corresponding increase in the demand for advice and support for repatriation of elderly Irish people. The amount of funding recommended for the Safe Home organisation reflects the excellent, impressive and successful repatriation work which it has achieved. I am aware that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has grant-aided Safe Home for its general administrative expenses in carrying out a co-ordinating role on the amended terms of the capital assistance scheme. A sum of €100,000 was paid to Safe Home in grant-in-aid in 2002-03. Under the terms of the voluntary housing capital assistance scheme, up to 25% of accommodation in new projects by individual voluntary housing bodies may be allocated to elderly returning emigrants who satisfy eligibility criteria. Elderly emigrants wishing to apply for accommodation may apply and be assessed for housing without the requirement of having first returned to this country. I am also aware that Safe Home carries out a co-ordinating role liaising with relevant individual voluntary housing bodies throughout the country regarding accommodation for eligible elderly emigrants who are included on their waiting list.

I was pleased to announce before Christmas that I had secured an additional €1 million in the Vote for the Department of Foreign Affairs for services to emigrants in 2004. This brings the overall expenditure on emigrant services by my Department this year to just over €4 million, an increase of one third in 2003. I also hope to be able to find additional funds through savings in my Department's Vote later in the year which will enable me to increase the amount for emigrant services even further. In this context, I would be very happy to consider any further proposals from the Safe Home programme to assist older Irish emigrants in countries other than the UK.

Dr. Cowley

I thank the Minister for his reply and for his good news. This means a lot to the people being helped because they are at the bottom of the league in terms of doing well with regard to car and home ownership. They are way down the scale. The Irish are the only ethnic group to do worse than the host country, the UK. It is only right that we do this for our emigrants because of the billions they sent home to us. Safe Home has assisted 288 older Irish emigrants. We try to bring people to somewhere as near as possible to where they came from and have received 1,098 inquiries so far.

I thank the Minister for his news because Safe Home could not exist without the DION fund. We also get help from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. All this only pays the salaries. We still have to pay ongoing office costs, entitlements and mileage. Much of the work of the staff involves attempting to get these additional funds to run the repatriation effort, which takes away from the main work.

Much of our work now focuses in areas outside the UK. While the main need was in the UK, we have now had inquiries from the five continents. A number of emigrants have been repatriated from the US. Will the Minister consider providing extra funding for those immigrants from places other than Britain who live in poor circumstances and who would dearly wish to come home? Will he inform the House of plans for the €18 million promised in the report of the task force for British-based organisations?

Mr. Cowen

We will, as I said in my reply, do whatever we can to improve the situation for those outside Britain who also want to return home. The figure of €18 million was recommended by an independent task force and was not promised by me. It was recommended as the optimum figure required to give effect to its recommendations on the basis that they were implemented immediately against a background of total provision for services of €2 million. To anyone who knows how these things operate, the idea that an increase from €2 million to €18 million in one financial year——

Mr. Quinn

Unless it is for ponies in Kildare.

Mr. Cowen

The Deputy can make that remark if he wants but there is much more being invested emigrant services now than was previously the case and I am committed to improving them. I have further ideas that will ensure better delivery of services and more resources. I was not prepared to set up agencies that would take up 50% of the allocation as a way to resolve the immediate issues faced by emigrants, I believe that as much of the money as possible should go to frontline services. That is what I will continue to do.

Having initiated the task force on the basis of a commitment given in social partnership, I will work with it on its recommendations. We must not only deal with this on the basis of these services, which are important, but also examine the role our emigrants can play in the future as a resource for the country. It is a much wider remit than simply dealing with those who have fallen on hard times and how we can bring them home. I compliment the Deputy on his work on a practical basis in that area.