Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 23 Apr 1997

Vol. 151 No. 3

Irish Emigrant Organisations: Motion.

Mr. Mooney

I move:

That Seanad Éireann calls on the Government to increase its financial and other resources to Irish Emigrant Organisations, many of whom are voluntary, working among our exiles especially in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The purpose of the motion is to draw attention to the recent changes in US immigration legislation which has made life extremely difficult for undocumented Irish people and for the voluntary emigrant organisations which attempt to cater for the huge number of inquiries to their offices. An example is the Irish emigration centre at 18 Tremont Street, Boston. This centre received over 19,000 calls during 1996. However, less than 10 per cent of the total budget for running the centre and its services came from the Irish Government — it amounted to approximately $35,000. This is an abysmal failure on the part of the Government which claims to care for the less well off in society. Irish emigrants are as much a part of Ireland as those of us fortunate to live here. As a former emigrant and a member of the precursor to DÍON, the committee on welfare services abroad from 1979-84, I was able to acquaint myself with the priorities of Irish welfare organisations in Britain.

My colleague, Senator Dan Kiely will deal with the American experience in more detail as he lived there while my emigrant experience is of the United Kingdom, but there are similarities between our experiences. I had the pleasure of visiting the Irish emigration centre in Boston while carrying out public duties during the St. Patrick's week celebrations and I was impressed with the commitment and dedication of what is largely a volunteer service. This centre was established in 1989 and began as a confidential telephone service for emigrants. It has rapidly expanded and maintains the central philosophy of self help and community based empowerment. It has a drop in centre where people come to check the noticeboards, read Irish newspapers, etc. Its support and referral services are key components of its work. It also provides a free legal advice clinic once a month and offers new and established emigrants the opportunity to pursue their job search in a friendly and supportive environment.

I pay tribute to Kieran O'Sullivan from Kanturk, County Cork who works as a paralegal at the centre. He is continuing his studies to become a fully fledged lawyer. He is a credit not only to his family but also to this country and he is doing outstanding work in Boston. Another important part of the centre's work is its outreach programme which concentrates on providing information on a variety of topics and issues relevant to emigrants. In addition, the centre assists newcomers with information on accommodation needs. The work of the Boston centre is mirrored not only across the US wherever there is a large population but also in several centres throughout the UK, the most famous being the Irish centre in Camden Town and the Oblate Fathers' hostel at Quex Road, Kilburn. I admire the outstanding work the Oblate Fathers have done among the Irish community, especially in London but also in Birmingham where the late Fr. Taaffe is revered.

All of these important social centres require increased resources and it is a moral imperative that the Irish State adequately resources their vital work. Sadly, our record over the past 20 years has been lamentable and I point the finger at successive Administrations. We have a blind spot when it comes to helping our emigrants and yet they are our own. In 1983 Deputy Ruairi Quinn was in office and when looking at the reform of welfare services for emigrants, he used the phrase "they are our forgotten people". They have been forgotten by successive Governments. I, therefore, plead with the Government in its dying days to increase its miserly funding for emigrant centres.

The situation in the US is particularly acute. It is feared that new legislation being introduced will drive those who are illegal further underground. The changes taking place to reform welfare and immigration legislation will have a considerable impact on Irish illegal aliens in America. For example, under the new welfare reform laws all non citizens, including those with green cards or legal permanent residents, are disturk qualified from two major federal assistance programmes — food stamps, a Government subsidy of basic food purchases for the poor and supplementary security income which is cash assistance to low income persons who are blind, aged or disabled. The new laws also permit individual states to bar legal immigrants from three federal programmes administered at state level if they so decide — non emergency Medicaid, a Government subsidy of health care costs for the poor; Title XX social services block grants, including day care, some subsidised housing for the elderly, care for the disabled and domestic violence programmes and Temporary Aid for Needy Families formerly called Aid to Families with dependent children.

Under immigration reform laws new harsher penalties face those who enter or overstay in the US. Anyone unlawfully present from six months to one year and who left voluntarily before the Immigration and Naturalisation Service began removal proceedings against them will be barred from re-entry for three years. Anyone unlawfully present for more than one year will be barred from re-entry for ten years. Very little relief is available for those undergoing deportation proceedings as cancellation of removal is granted only to those who can prove ten years' continuous residence as well as extreme and unusual hardship posed by deportation.

It is now more difficult than ever to bring family members to the US as immigrants. Those who wish to sponsor their family members as immigrants have to prove that their income is at least 125 per cent of the poverty level of a household that will include the prospective immigrant and they must sign an affidavit of support that will be legally binding. These provisions will make it extremely difficult for undocumented residents to find sponsors. The volunteers in the outreach programmes in Boston see the problems I have outlined daily. Some callers are suffering depression, while others are turning to drink and drugs to alleviate the loneliness and fear.

There is a grave misconception that all those who go to America do well. The truth is that many slip through the system. The Boston Globe of 10 February 1997 carried a story about a 70 year old Irish emigrant called Marie Sullivan. Miss Sullivan was buried in a part of a Boston cemetery called the welfare plot. We would call it the paupers' plot. She was originally from Ireland, though nobody knows where, and she told a friend she longed to return. She was a widow whose husband died in her arms, and was an independent and private person. That secretiveness prevented friends from knowing if she had any family in Ireland to contact when she collapsed and lay in a coma for ten days before dying in a Cambridge, Massachusetts, hospital. Marie Sullivan was what we would call a “bag lady”. She wore layers of clothing and often had a cart or carriage in tow. She sat in fast food restaurants not to eat but to keep warm.

There are hundreds of Marie Sullivans in England and America that deserve to be helped. The job is usually left to the Irish centres. They have neither the personnel nor the finance to deal with the increasing problems facing our citizens who are down on their luck.

At the outset, I referred to the consequences of changes to the emigration and welfare legislation. It is imperative that action should be taken on two fronts. One reason is the severe pressure on the resources of the emigrants' centres, particularly in the US. There is a need to provide them with extra resources. Second, there is a continuous need to increase funding for the many problems of broken and dysfunctional families in the UK.

Is there any possibility that the FÁS programme could second people to the Irish centres in Britain and the US who could help in the welfare context? The Government might be able to provide benefit in kind if resources are under strain. I am unsure of the constitutional implications, but FÁS operates in the building industry in Germany. The emigrants' centres, particularly those in Boston, would be happy to make a submission to the relevant Department.

My reason for raising this was my experience in Boston in March. The cause of emigrants is sometimes put on the back burner. I am emotional and passionate about this because I had to take the boat to England. Those were happy times, but it was forced emigration. People who have not experienced this cannot fully understand the gut-wrenching feeling of turning back to watch Dún Laoghaire harbour as one leaves it, perhaps for a long time, and without knowing if one will be able to return to one's native land to live. Any Government that represents this State should ensure it is a priority that resources are provided for this matter.

Mr. D. Kiely

I second the motion and commend Senator Mooney for introducing this motion. I have contacted the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and my party leader recently on the serious matter that has arisen in the US. Emigration was a big problem for many years but we seemed to come to grips with it. I was chairman of the emigration committee in my party in the 1980s and met the Emigration Reform Movement in New York City, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Haughey, the Catholic societies and consuls. I brought them together and in 1988 a £250,000 grant was given to help illegal Irish aliens in America. That was one of the first direct funding grants from a Government in this area.

I thank Congressman Brian Donnelly for all the work he has done for illegals. I worked closely with him for some years and lobbied hard for undocumented people in the US. Over 100,000 of them have since been documented. I also compliment Congressmen Berman and Morrison on their work.

The economy is going well and people may feel emigration is a thing of the past, but it is not. Emigration still exists, particularly to the US. I feel sorry for people who go on vacation to their families in the US. They are made to feel welcome and may overstay their six months visit by a day or so. If they want to visit their families after that vacation there is a waiting period of three years. If they overstay a year's visit by a day, there is a penalty of ten years. This is a serious matter and the Government must do something about it.

There is a centre in Boston, New York, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco trying to help Irish people. All of them are crying out for some kind of assistance, but above all they want encouragement from the Government. Some financial resources must be made available to those on the ground. There are over 100 part-time workers in the Boston centre referred to by Senator Mooney. Many people will go to ground in the situation that will develop unless matters are rectified.

The US is very close to us. Approximately 40 million people in the US are descendants of Irish people and Ireland is like another state to that country. These restrictions have been brought in for other groups but a special case has to be made for the Irish in the US. We stood firm in the 1980s but now this new legislation will come into law on 1 September of this year and I am fearful as people are still living illegally in the US. If they came home in the morning, the unemployment figures would rise by 40,000 or 50,000. If all the people who had to emigrate remained in Ireland on the dole queues, how would we be able to handle them? They are now crying out for a little assistance and the least we can do is assist them in their time of need. They are not looking for much; they are only looking for funding to keep their centres going in a time of need. Most of all, they are looking for the Irish Government to take the initiative to change the congressional legislation and lobby Congressmen. I thank Congressman Schumer, Senator Kennedy and all the other people who have helped emigrants down the years.

The people are crying out. They do not know what to do. Well-educated young people with university degrees are crying out for legal status in the US. They have applied under the new lottery system for the green card, but they may all have to come back within six months. They are being looked after by their families and friends in the US at present, they are interfering with nobody and they are just looking for a little leverage at a difficult time in their lives.

I was glad I did some work for emigrants to the US in the 1980s. I received hundreds of thank you cards from people I never met or knew because I had the honour of taking out 16,000 visa applications to the US when there was a postal strike here. I stood outside Leinster House and gathered visa applications from all over Ireland. I am glad to say that about 95 per cent of those applicants received visas at that time.

People are writing to me in droves now too. They are crying out for help. The Boston centre has contacted me over the past couple of weeks and Senator Mooney was in the US to meet these people. The people in New York have been in touch with me too. Mr. O'Dwyer, the president of the emigration movement in the New York area, has been in contact with me. For the first time in a long while they are looking outside the US and towards Ireland for a little assistance. In addition to supporting Senator Mooney's motion, which I am honoured to second, I ask that the Government lobby the US Congress to change the law which is to be introduced at this crucial point. It would be simple to do. The political will exists. A case was made for the Irish in the past.

I agree with the call for FÁS schemes in this area. Legislative social welfare agreements exist between the US and Ireland but we should take it a step further and make provision for other institutions which exist in Ireland. We should sponsor people to the US if necessary. We must come to the rescue of these people in this hour of need.

I am sure the Minister will accept this motion sympathetically and use every available resource to help people who have given so much to this country and who are looking for so little. Such people were never takers. Some of them brought back knowledge and training from the US, the UK and elsewhere and opened up new industries in Ireland. That is what it is all about. When such people are looking for a little help in return, we should be there for them and the door should not be closed to them.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Stagg)

With regard to the specific questions raised by Senator Mooney on the Irish emigration centre in Boston, there was a specific parliamentary question on that matter during the week and I will give him a copy of the reply, the details of which are more specific than those in my speech.

The FÁS issue can be usefully explored to see how that can be managed. It has been done in the context of Germany and I will refer to that in my speech also.

Senator Mooney's name arises in every contact with emigrant organisations, particularly those in Britain, and I compliment him in particular for his work with organisations in Britain.

I share the views of Senators who have said that we should do as much as we can to assist and support voluntary Irish organisations in Britain and United States who provide valuable information, advice and guidance to our emigrants. The success in recent times of the Government's economic policies has thankfully reduced the numbers of people who must leave Ireland to find employment abroad. Many of our young people are still doing so but they are now much fewer in number than was the case ten or even five years ago. In the year ended April 1996 — the last for which figures are available — immigration exceeded emigration by 5,600. We must accept, however, that no matter how good economic conditions or how plentiful job opportunities at home may be, some people will always want to seek experience or fortune beyond our shores although they may not have to do so. The existence of a common travel area between Ireland and Britain makes it remarkably easy for even teenagers to do so.

There are long traditions of emigration to Britain and to the United States and well-established informal networks of relatives and friends to assist each new generation of emigrants. However, the need for many kinds of supplementary advice and assistance became apparent at the time of the last large wave of emigration in the 1980s. It was against this background that the Government, with the approval of the Oireachtas, decided in 1984 to establish the London-based DÍON Committee and to give grants to support voluntary organisations providing advisory and welfare services for Irish emigrants in Britain. The funds are allocated by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment on the basis of recommendations from the DÍON Committee. The grants support the employment of professional workers to provide advice, counselling and practical assistance to Irish emigrants — new arrivals as well as those who have been in Britain for some time. DÍON funds are used to support voluntary agencies which facilitate access to employment and welfare services, the objective being to promote the continued contribution to British society of Irish people resident in Britain.

A small proportion of each year's allocation is also used to support key research into aspects of problems affecting emigrants' welfare. Two DÍON-assisted projects relating to the health of Irish people in Britain are currently under way.

DÍON grants totalling £4.8 million have so far been provided to voluntary organisations in Britain. In the years immediately preceding 1996, the amount provided for these grants in the Vote for Enterprise and Employment was £500,000. Last year savings elsewhere in the Enterprise and Employment Vote made it possible to increase the amount to £550,000. This was used for grants to 31 organisations working in Irish communities throughout Britain.

I am pleased to inform the House that the Minister for Enterprise and Employment recently announced an increase of £100,000 in the annual DÍON grant aid for Irish emigrant advice and welfare centres in Britain, bringing the total for 1997 to £600,000. This increase was made possible by savings identified in the Vote for Foreign Affairs at the initiative of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Spring.

These recent increase are evidence of the Government's willingness to help voluntary groups in Britain to respond to the continuing high level of demand for their services, notwithstanding the fact that there are fewer new emigrants. This continuing high level of demand is mainly due to recent changes in social provision in Britain which adversely affect disadvantaged members of the Irish community there, especially with regard to getting work, housing and entitlement to benefits. The categories of emigrants who are most in need of the services Irish Government grants help to make available are: first, the newly arrived, particularly people still in their teens who leave Ireland ill-prepared; second, people who have been in Britain for some time but have not yet found a permanent niche for themselves; and, third, the elderly.

In the United States in the late 1980s the difficulties encountered by many new emigrants, especially those who were undocumented, also were responded to by an increase in the number of voluntary groups catering for them and an expansion in the range of services they provided. Since 1990, therefore, the Government has provided money in the Foreign Affairs Vote each year for grants to assist those groups. Decisions on the distribution of this funding are made by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs on the recommendation of the Ambassador in Washington and the Consuls-General in Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

The resources of the Embassy and of the four Consulates General were also directed towards the enactment of legislation to make it easier for undocumented Irish people to regularise their status as immigrants. With the assistance of friends in Congress, notably Congressmen Donnelly and Morrison, this was achieved. The problems to be faced in more recent times have been less acute than they were eight or nine years ago. A more restrictive US immigrant visa regime combined with better economic conditions in Ireland have reduced the number of emigrants. However, there has been a continuing need for the advice and information provided by voluntary Irish organisations on matters such as accommodation, employment, entitlement to social services and access to further education. The amount of funding provided in the Foreign Affairs Vote for support for these organisations is £150,000 a year and this year's grants bring to £1.2 million the amounts paid out since 1990. Last year the allocation for groups in the US was divided between 11 centres — three in New York, two in Boston, four in California, one in Philadelphia and one in Washington DC.

Some of the significant changes in US immigration and welfare legislation enacted last year have negative implications for some Irish people there. One category particularly affected is those who have taken up residence there in recent years but who do not have the status of legal immigrants. In response to these concerns the Embassy and Consulates-General are maintaining close contact with the immigrant organisations and co-operating with them in arranging seminars at which information is exchanged and the implications of the new legislation are considered.

The Embassy and Consulates have also raised with members of Congress the position of undocumented Irish people who are seeking to regularise their status without leaving the US.

In 1996 for the first time assistance was provided for immigrant welfare groups in Australia. Grants were made to three organisations. This year's Estimate for the Department of Foreign Affairs includes a provision of £15,000 for such groups.

The upsurge of emigration in the 1980s also led to the establishment by the Government in 1988 of the interdepartmental committee on emigration. This committee, chaired by an assistant secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs, is a forum for exchanging information and for coordination of action on matters relating to emigrants and emigration. The committee is currently reviewing its activities.

While the motion refers to assistance to organisations working among our exiles, I would like to inform Senators that the Department of Social Welfare and FÁS are assisting intending emigrants by helping to provide, or themselves providing, booklets with useful information and advice that are available in Ireland. The Department of Social Welfare gives grants to Emigrant Advice, a Dublin-based voluntary organisation, towards the costs of producing these booklets. A separate booklet with practical information and advice for returning emigrants, also produced by Emigrant Advice, will be available shortly. FÁS and EURES, the European Union's Employment Services, jointly produce and distribute a series of leaflets about working in other countries and a video with pre-migration advice. Together with the UK Employment Service they have produced a directory of help agencies in Ireland and the UK which can give support and advice to Irish emigrants to the UK.

The Government accepts that the welcome reduction in emigration does not mean that the difficulties and problems that confront Irish people when they go abroad no longer matter. We acknowledge the continuing need for the valuable assistance being provided by voluntary bodies in Britain and the United States as well as in Australia. They do excellent work and deserve all the support, financial and otherwise, we can give them.

Government financial support for organisations in Britain and the US has been increased from £650,000 in 1995 to £700,000 in 1996 and to £750,000 this year. We will, of course, take account of this motion and the views of individual Senators expressed here today and, in the context of the prevailing budgetary circumstances, we will continue to look as sympathetically as possible at the level of funding in the future.

I am of an age and from a background in the west of Ireland that makes me acutely aware of the devastating effect of widespread emigration on families and communities. I remember the heartbreak of the "American wakes" in the 1950s and the trains from Westport in the 1960s filled with men returning to building sites in England with cardboard suitcases. This was not voluntary but forced by economic circumstances. Ten of the 13 members of my own family had to do so.

I also remember the letters home that always contained dollars and pounds. These enabled persons such as myself to avail of the fee paying system of education, which was in vogue then, with food in our beliefs and shirts on our backs.

I want to thank our emigrants for their generosity and for continuing to remember the conditions at home when they were far away. I also want to acknowledge the huge contribution that Irish people, both men and women, abroad have made to the communities in which they settled in the USA, Britain, Australia and elsewhere. They are our best ambassadors and trade representatives. The acknowledgement of that diaspora by our President made up in some way for many years of neglect of their potential and worth by official Ireland.

Mr. Doyle

I am happy to support the motion, which deals with Irish emigrants in Britain, America and Australia. We have 900,000 emigrants — people who were born in Ireland — now living permanently in England. Many are happily living there in prosperity. I accept what the Minister of State said about the situation in North America and Australia and, while I do not have personal experience of those areas, I have personal experience of the situation in London. I want to thank Senator Mooney for the tribute he paid to the Oblate Fathers and their work. I have the good fortune to be related, through marriage, to Fr. Patsy Carolan, who looks after Conway House in Quex Road, Kilburn. When I visited that house I was impressed by the work that is carried on there. Conway House accommodates 270 people and provides training courses for young emigrants as well as helping them to find work.

One of the most moving aspects of my visit there was to meet and speak with old people who emigrated up to 50 years ago, never married and are now lonely men. I met two of them smoking their pipes. When I spoke to them it was as if they had never left Ireland. Conway House is a little piece of Ireland for such men.

Voluntary workers there provide a wonderful service and I am glad the Government has made a commitment of £600,000 to DÍON to help them carry out their work. That organisation in Kilburn has 35 full-time and 25 part-time workers. Last year they dealt with 442 newly arrived emigrants. Many people who emigrate find success, but there are others who fall by the wayside and that is where these organisations can be of assistance.

For a number of years the Kilburn Centre has been helping people with drug, alcohol and gambling problems. When I spoke this evening to Fr. Carolan by phone, he told me he is in contact with a night shelter in Kilburn which has detox beds for people with alcohol and drug related difficulties. It is important to deal with the social aspects of our emigrant population also.

I was impressed when I attended a conference organised by DÍON some time ago in the European Parliament buildings in Molesworth Street, Dublin. I discovered it has a network of workers in Ireland who put young emigrants in touch with people they should approach when they travel to London and other parts of Britain. The Minister of State mentioned the advice booklet, which is another important aspect in helping our emigrants.

I want to pay tribute to those who work voluntarily in these organisations to assist our emigrants. They deserve our full support, including financial help. They do a wonderful job in looking after what Senator Mooney called "our lost friends". They should not be lost to us and, while these voluntary workers have a loving outlook, they will be our friends.

Mr. Fitzgerald

I want to compliment Senator Mooney and Senator Dan Kiely for moving the motion. The Minister of State spoke from the heart as a person with knowledge of the problem. The background he outlined is to a certain extent similar for all of us.

There were 19 children in my mother's family, of whom 13 or 14 emigrated. My mother always regretted not knowing three of her brothers because they emigrated from west Kerry before she was born. One was gassed in France during the First World War and the other two never came home, probably because they could not forget what they had left behind. We should not be ashamed to say that things were bad at that time. They must have thought they were in heaven when they arrived in a new country, although they had problems finding jobs.

The Minister spoke fondly about emigrants and their families who have become great ambassadors for this country. We are proud that people of Irish descent became President of the United States and founded the American navy.

The Minister said there is a difference of over 5,000 between those returning to and leaving Ireland. He also said that booklets and videos are available to help our emigrants when they move to another country. However, they are still not properly prepared. There is no problem going on holidays to America since the visa requirement was relaxed. However, prior to that, a number of people were not given holiday or working visas, so they decided to take a chance in the hope they would not be caught. They wanted to make money before returning home. However, problems arose when they did not succeed or when their health failed. They did not seek help from home because they were either embarrassed or too proud. This was clearly outlined in the letter I received from Mr. Kieran O'Sullivan of the Irish Immigration Centre. It stated:

Examples of just a few of our callers are:

Mary is a 75 year old Irish widow living here since her twenties but never became a citizen because she states it would have meant reneging her allegiance to Ireland. She is losing her supplementary social security income and food coupons within the next few months. Her chronic health problems and advanced age force her to depend on these benefits. She worked — like most Irish women did — as a nanny, housekeeper in non-pensionable low paying jobs.

There are a number of people in similar situations in America and England. Many are embarrassed to return home because they have not been as successful as they hoped. Many send letters home pretending everything is all right. However, when others from the same area emigrate, they learn the true story. The loneliness felt by these people often leads them to drink and drugs.

The Minister outlined generous support for emigrant centres and organisations in Ireland, England and Australia. Perhaps he could clarify if Canada is included. I was in Canada last year where I met Mr. Dinny Sullivan from Castlemaine. He has been an illegal immigrant for 35 years. He was unmarried and seemed to be in good health. He wanted me to try to get him an Irish passport because he could not get one in Canada and he wanted to return home. Perhaps some emigrants are uneducated and do not know where to go to get help, but many are too proud to look for help and it is then too late when they receive it.

The Minister seems to know the problems experienced by emigrants. Generous sums of money have been given to emigrant organisations, but this motion was tabled to persuade the Minister and the Government to give further funding. Senator Mooney suggested that personnel from Ireland could go to Europe on a FÁS scheme to help sort out these problems. Last Christmas I heard a radio interview with a man who was organising a convoy of buses to go to England to bring people home. He said the voluntary organisation for which he worked did this every Christmas. This is a deserving cause which should be funded. We are a proud people and we should acknowledge the help given by successful Irish people abroad by increasing the funding for these organisations.

Mr. Maloney

I support the motion. I compliment the Minister on his speech which shows his clear understanding of the problems associated with emigration and the lack of available help over the past few years. The county in which I live has a terrible history of emigration, which took place when there were no supports available for those who worked in tunnels or on building sites in Great Britain and other countries.

The groups to which Senator Mooney referred are to be commended for their valuable work. Sadly, in the case of some people, that work is more than merely valuable, it is essential. I refer to the organisations that provide welfare services to Irish emigrants. I am aware that much valuable work is done with homeless people in London which was highlighted at a recent seminar organised by Focus Point to mark its anniversary.

I want to address a potential misconception that might arise because this motion was tabled by Fianna Fáil Senators. This might lead people to believe that the Government has neglected groups that support Irish people who have emigrated to foreign countries. That is not the case. The Government has provided increases in funding to these groups from the two relevant Departments during the past two years. These amounted to a 10 per cent increase in the funding provided under the Estimate from the Department of Foreign Affairs and an increase of 20 per cent provided under the Vote of the Department of Enterprise and Employment.

In the case of the Department of Foreign Affairs, this is the first increase since 1989. I would like to highlight the political reality of this fact for the Senators opposite. The Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrate Coalition failed to provide an increase in funding to overseas groups. On the other hand, the Rainbow Coalition provided the funding increases to which I referred. As the Minister stated, funding from the Department of Enterprise and Employment is channelled through the DÍON Committee in Britain. This committee consists of representatives of the Irish community in Britain, in addition to representatives of the Irish Embassy in London and a representative of the Eastern Health Board in Dublin.

DÍON provides grants to support the employment of counsellors and advice workers who meet the needs of Irish emigrants at the front line. In the area of activities for the homeless, for example, last year Action Homeless Concern received £15,000 and Cricklewood Homeless Concern received £21,000. These figures are in Irish punts, not sterling. Other organisations such as Solas Anois received £17,000 and An Teach housing association received £5,000. I do not intend to read into the record the list of 31 organisations which received a total of £550,000 last year. I wish to make an important point about that total, which, when the original Estimate was published was to have been £500,000. The Government's commitment is real and when savings were found, the Department allocated an additional 10 per cent to this heading. This proves that the Government is committed to supporting emigrant groups.

The Department of Foreign Affairs funds support for Irish immigrants in the United States of America. I wish to place on record information about one of the groups that carries out invaluable work. I refer to the Irish Immigration Centre, situated on Tremont Street in Boston, which received just over £22,000 last year. Last month Denise McCool who works at the centre — if she was not living in Boston she would be a constituent of mine in the Inishowen peninsula — wrote to me to inform me about the work carried out there. Much of the centre's work is connected with what is termed "undocumented emigrants"— Irish people in the USA who do not have a valid visa. These people cannot access healthcare or obtain a valid driving licence, accommodation or employment.

Last year the centre took 19,000 telephone calls and a total of 6,000 people walked in off the street to seek advice. Some of these individuals suffer from depression or have turned to alcohol or drugs to alleviate the fear they experience. Due to the success of the Irish economy the centre is now receiving calls from those who want to return home. I welcome this emerging trend. I call on the Minister of State to provide the funding outlined in the motion to support it. The Boston centre is one of 11 Irish centres in four US cities to receive Government support. On that basis, I have no hesitation in asking the Minister of State to increase financial support to these centres.

Mr. Mooney

I thank the Minister of State for his kind comments about my modest contribution and for relating his experience of growing up in the west. It is only when one has experienced such things that one gains a real understanding of the nature of emigration. I am grateful to the Minister of State for outlining with clarity the Government's action in the area of emigrant welfare. I would be churlish — it would border on the irresponsible — were I not to acknowledge the Government's contribution.

This is not a partisan political issue. Senator Maloney and I are the best of friends and I am slightly disappointed that he introduced a partisan element to the debate. I understand the impetus behind his contribution and I do not doubt his sincerity. We are playing on the same team in terms of emigrant welfare but whoever wrote his speech obviously decided that it might be no harm, in the current environment to have a cut at Fianna Fáil. The purpose of tabling this motion was to generate the type of debate which would focus on the real problems faced by emigrants and emigrant welfare organisations.

In the context of the Minister's remarks about DÍON, the funding of emigrant welfare organisations did not commence in 1983. As I stated earlier, the Committee on Welfare Services Abroad was first initiated in the mid-1970s. The current Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, in his previous role as Minister for Enterprise and Employment, decided to reform the area of emigrant welfare and he reconstituted COWSA, as it was known in the old Department of Labour, as DÍON. I state this merely to emphasise that there was a succession of funding mechanisms put in place from the mid-1970s. However, the difficulty is that the money provided has never been adequate.

Senator Fitzgerald and I had a discussion earlier, we were probably walking on dangerous ground, and are of the view that if all of the money allegedly given away by Ben Dunne in recent years was added up, the total would be far in excess of the funding provided by successive Governments in respect of emigrant welfare. The monumental amount of money the Taxing Master allocated for legal fees last week in connection with the Beef Tribunal is staggering when compared to the funding given to emigrant welfare by successive Governments. Evryone is aware that the funding allocated in this area will never be adequate but we must continue to climb the greasy pole, even though we may fall back down, to focus Government attention on this important area.

I am glad that several Members highlighted the fact that emigration has not ended and remains a real problem. It may be instructive for the House to know that 6.5 million people worldwide applied for 55,000 visas to enter the US in 1996. Of the European quota of 3,500, Ireland received a mere 900 green cards. Those who wish to be sponsored to be employed in America are obliged to wait for upwards of ten years. My sources in Boston inform me that it is estimated that there are approximately 10,000 illegal Irish immigrants in that city alone. They advise them to return to Ireland to become regularised, to apply from here under the new immigration laws but many of them will not return home.

I am aware of the case of a man who has spent 19 years in the US with his family and he is still not documented. When I mentioned this case to some of my colleagues they were at a loss to understand how this man could not be documented given all the good work done by US Congressmen, as was outlined by Senators, in introducing legislative measures on this issue. Many such emigrants may not have registered because they may have had suspect backgrounds. They may have gone to the US for a variety of reasons which they do not wish to convey to the US authorities, so they are in limbo. The emigrant welfare organisations in the US will have to focus on these emigrants.

The British experience is a different issue and the Minister of State and I are familiar with it. Senator Doyle has connections with the Oblates and we agree they do outstanding work in this regard.

It is for this combination of reasons that we tabled this motion. I am grateful to my colleagues for their contributions, Senator Maloney included. We are at one on this matter. Notwithstanding budgetary constraints, I hope there will be a focus on this issue in Government circles, brought to bear by the Minister of State who, I hope will continue in office if that is the wish of the electorate. When it comes to emigrant issues I do not mind who is in power. The people who control the country's purse strings should give more money for emigrant services. I hope the Minister of State and I will be able to develop the FÁS scheme concept on the administrative and training sides. It may provide a window of opportunity.

I am grateful to all who contributed to the debate and I thank the Minister of State.

Question put and agreed to.

Acting Chairman (Mr. McDonagh)

When is it proposed to sit again?

Mr. Doyle

At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.