Vol. 399 No. 12
30 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether, at any of the Council meetings of the EC since January, either he or any member of the Government, raised the matter of the level of emigration from this country; if any assistance was promised to help in the matter; and the action the Government propose to take.
The House will be aware of the commitments of this Government to our emigrants and the action we have taken to help those who have emigrated and to remove the causes of emigration here at home.
Under the Treaties, the Community promotes policies designed to improve the economic situation of the less developed member states, including Ireland. Emigration is a result of the lack of development in these countries and mechanisms such as the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund are aimed at solving this problem. The Community also addresses the rights of migrant workers.
The Irish Government are concerned to protect and promote our economic interests in all deliberations of the EC Council of Ministers and we have continued to do this during the period since January when Irish Ministers have been chairing the various Councils. During this period, at our initiative, a programme of measures in favour of the long term unemployed was adopted recently by the Social Affairs Council.
