Jimmy Deenihan
Ceist:6 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Labour the reason Conway House Hostel in Kilburn, London, never received grant aid from the DION Committee, despite the fact that it provides a vital service to many young Irish emigrants.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Conway House (London) Hostel.
Government assistance to voluntary organisations in Britain catering for the welfare needs of Irish emigrants is distributed on the advice of DÍON — the Advisory Committee on Emigrant Welfare Services.
DION's current priorities are: front line information and advice services for emigrants; outreach services for unemployed youths, women and children in temporary accommodation, and travellers; special projects to assist the unemployed to find secure employment; and day care centres for the elderly.
DÍON's approach to the funding of hostels, such as Conway House, is that the cost of supporting either the capital or current costs of hostels would be prohibitive. DÍON take the view that direct access provision for the single homeless is primarily the responsibility of the UK local statutory housing authorities.
Irish Centre Hostels Limited, the parent body of Conway House, submitted an application for funding the overhead charge for the appointment of additional staff and support services to provide a job-finding facility for residents in the hostel. The application was considered by DÍON but was not successful because DÍON grants are directed at establishing a co-ordinated network of employment referral contacts among Irish agencies and the UK Employment Services rather than supporting the setting up of individual facilities.
As Conway House is the largest youth hostel for Irish immigrants in London and also caters for 16 Irish adults, will the Minister have their application considered seriously in view of the fact that they provide advice and information for many of the residents who come to them? This weekend four people from Mullingar arrived at the house with only £30 and no job. They provide advice services, they give direction on employment and it is fair to say that they have been discriminated against by the DÍON Committee.
A supplementary question, please.
Will the Minister make a special case on their behalf in this regard or at least request the DÍON Committee to consider their proposal more sympathetically this year than in previous years in view of the work they are doing for so many young Irish immigrants?
I am familiar with the work of Conway House and I agree with Deputy Deenihan that they do a good job. From what DÍON told me — not in relation to this question but generally — I understand that a number of organisations are endeavouring to provide this type of job resource centre for the people in their areas. There is an organisation called "Safe Start" which is a foundation to establish links with the various groups and organisations in existence. They have received funding from DÍON for a number of years. Rather than having individual centres duplicating jobs, DÍON want to co-ordinate the work. However, I will put forward the Deputy's views to the people in Conway House with whom I am familiar.
In relation to the DÍON Committee co-ordinating services, is the Minister satisfied that the committee have focused enough on the needs of young women emigrants, particularly pregnant women? It has been put to me that we need far more resources and emphasis on this area.
The Deputy has a point. In recent weeks there have been discussions between the DÍON Committee and primarily one of the Catholic welfare organisations that has been involved with young pregnant Irish women. A question for later on today names one organisation which has applied to DÍON. DÍON are trying to deal with this problem across all the Irish centres, rather than dealing with one organisation.
The funding to DÍON has grown, although it is not enough to meet all the demands on them. The people involved in the committee have been there for five or six years now and they have a lot of expertise. They work closely with the federation of Irish societies and the chaplaincy services. A great number of organisations are now appearing, knowing that there is statutory funding from this country, and that is creating difficulties. It is nice that the DÍON Committee can give out some money, but they are trying to get the best value for that money. They are experienced and are trying to work across all the agencies and do not want to be seen to be catering for an individual organisation. They are looking at the problem mentioned by Deputy Barnes.
I observe four Deputies offering. If they will be brief I will hear them, but we must not forget that this question refers specifically to Conway House Hostel in Kilburn. I cannot allow an extension of that matter.
Arising from the Minister's reply to Deputy Barnes, is he happy that DÍON have sufficient funding, or has the Minister any plans to increase funding to DÍON?
At this stage, I am trying to hold what I have. This will be a matter to be dealt with in the budget——
Have things got that bad?
The fund has grown from £150,000 two years ago to £500,000, so I am not doing too badly.
You are in trouble if you are holding on to it.
The question refers to Conway House Hostel and to the young people there. The Minister in his reply seemed to accept that enough was being done for the youth and did not refer to the fact that one-third of the people who call to Conway House are under 17 years of age and have no statutory entitlement at all under British law. Will the Minister now put more emphasis on this fact? Last year's report showed that 151 out of 459 people interviewed were under 16 or 17 years of age. Surely the Minister should be alarmed at these statistics.
The Deputy is wrong in his implication that I do not see any problems. In relation to the emigration of 16 and 17 year olds, during Question Time we on this side of the House, and through the educational system through FÁS, have tried to discourage young people from emigrating. There has been a substantial decrease in the numbers of young people emigrating, including Conway House. For those already there, DÍON are trying to give welfare, counselling and Outreach services to assist them and link them into the statutory employment groups there so as to help them to get work.
In view of the great work undertaken by the Conway House Hostel which is especially beneficial to Irish emigrants, could not the Minister or the Government recommend that this hostel be included for a grant from the DÍON Committee, especially as the hostel meets the criterion mentioned by the Minister in relation to catering for temporary accommodation for emigrants?
I am glad the Deputy asked that. The one thing that neither my predecessor nor I have done is to unduly influence the DÍON Committee. If I were to respond in this way to all the personal representations from organisations throughout the UK and elsewhere I would have spent all the money that DÍON have. Since the foundation of DÍON they have assessed applications themselves. That is the more appropriate way to proceed. If I were to decide for them it would create difficulties. They consult with the various Irish organisations and the federations. They are only disposing of £500,000 and it is more appropriate that they proceed by making their own assessments than on foot of influence from me.
Taking into account the good work that Conway House Hostel does for young Irish emigrants, does the Minister not agree that perhaps the rules for eligibility for a grant should be changed by the DÍON Committee?
DÍON's role is to ensure that the limited resources they have are used to the best advantage. They try to ensure that individual organisations are not overlapping, that they are using the services already there. They have done a very good job in that regard in recent years.
Question No. 7.
I wonder——
I thought the Chair gave a lot of latitude to this.
You did, Sir, but——
I called many Deputies, Deputy Quinn, and I indicated a desire for finality. I will allow the Deputy a brief supplementary.
Thank you. In view of the way in which the questions were asked, would the Minister consider it appropriate for the DÍON Committee to arrange for individual briefings for those Members of the House who are interested in the work of the committee?
I certainly would. Deputy Quinn did a lot of the work on this committee earlier on, and I acknowledge that. The DÍON Committee are a voluntary committee. They spend several nights a week meeting organisations and four or five times a year at weekends they come to different parts of Ireland to meet organisations. I would defend the organisation in that they do tremendous work. There is only one home-based member on the committee and that individual, a trade union leader, spends a great deal of time during the weekends in London and in Manchester. I can arrange such briefings, but it might not be very easy and the briefings would have to be during weekends. They do such work and I have left them a place for that reason for a number of years. They are inundated with requests for the money they have.