asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the application for financial assistance from the organisers of the Our Lady of Knock Centre in London.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - London Centre Project.
5.
I am aware of the proposal and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs has met the promoters of the project. The application is under consideration.
Would the Taoiseach not agree that what is envisaged here addresses a very real need, that of short stay accommodation for young Irish people who go to London and find themselves totally unprepared? In view of the fact that it is envisaged that 35,000 people will emigrate this year, 75 per cent of whom will go to the UK, a considerable proportion of whom will go to London and statistics show that 17 per cent are on the streets after a two month period, would the Taoiseach agree that this is a very real need which requires urgent and immediate consideration?
As I have said the application is under consideration at present but the Deputy should be aware that there are divided views about the project.
In view of the fact that the emigration of 35,000 people this year will save the Exchequer £16 million in unemployment assistance payments and, furthermore, in view of the fact that these people will pay £150,000 in "goodbye" money, that is travel tax, surely we can find something more than £250,000 which is there by way of DÍON funding for this type of worthy project? As a Mayo man could I say that the response from Mayo people is one of immense let down unless there is a positive response in this regard.
First of all, I do not accept the figure of 35,000 but apart from that it is a question of allocating scarce resources as beneficially as possible. We have to examine each project and each application on its own merits and on what its purposes are and what it is likely to achieve.