Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our contributors. I thank Ms McAleer for her presentation. The briefing material we have been given is very comprehensive. I do not think there is much in the presentation that we could disagree with. During the Seanad referendum campaign, when we debated the role of a second House of Parliament, it was pointed out that a clear and obvious opportunity exists to appoint someone to the Seanad to represent the diaspora. It would be a way of keeping the concerns, issues and challenges facing people who emigrate on the political agenda in the Oireachtas. I do not know whether a Government Department should be established. The Taoiseach of the day always faces pressure to establish specific Departments depending on the issues challenging the country at a particular time. There are obvious merits to this proposal. I would think, on the basis of my experience of attending embassy functions abroad, that young people do not engage with the embassy network as much as the older generation. It is generally the older cohort of people who attend such events. Maybe there is a difficulty in encouraging some of our young people to engage. Perhaps there is a lack of effort on the part of the embassy network. I do not know. I would be very reluctant to criticise our diplomatic network anywhere in the world. It does a fine job for our country. A better form of connection is probably needed.

I presume the unit for the Irish abroad that has been proposed would target a number of specific areas and would engage with and assist people. We are all aware of the various societies and clubs in cities such as Birmingham, London and Coventry, as well as in the United States. They often assist older people who do not have any immediate family support, or who need financial assistance during challenging periods in their lives. There is a GAA club in almost every part of the world, thankfully. The overseas branch of the GAA is almost like a formalised network for Irish people. One could see a Clare or Cavan jersey in any part of the world. The Clare jersey is very popular this year. I welcome the visibility of those jerseys. I know from many of the young emigrants to whom I have spoken that the GAA club has really become a focal point of their lives. It provides sporting activity and helps them to make friends.

Ms McAleer has outlined the type of work that a Government Department in this area could engage in if such a Department were to be established. I am reminded of the Department of Labour that existed until the early 1990s. It dealt with labour relations and labour market policy. It was merged with the old Department of Industry and Commerce to become the Department of Enterprise and Employment. I think Deputy Ruairí Quinn was the first Minister in the new Department in the early 1990s. Perhaps there is a case for doing some further work to assess the value of the old type of administrative structure that existed in this country when the Department of Labour was in place. I was struck by one or two of the statistics mentioned by Ms McAleer in this context. According to her submission:

47% of emigrants were in fact employed in full-time jobs before leaving. Just under 40% of these emigrants left because they wanted to travel and to experience another culture. These were often people with qualifications that other countries coveted, such as valuable IT skills or health professionals.

To my knowledge, we have a shortage of workers in many of those areas. Ms McAleer mentioned that a great deal of the immigration into this country is related to the attractiveness of the job opportunities that are available here. It is apparent that there is a mismatch between our training and labour market policies. Perhaps a greater focus on this area is needed.

Ms McAleer made it clear that our emigrants need support as they leave our shores, on a constant basis while they are abroad and - hopefully - as they prepare to return. All of us realise that the best programme of assistance that could be offered to any potential emigrant would come in the form of job opportunities. We are all conscious of that. The Chairman and some members of this committee recently visited the United States to seek further support for the immigration reform Bill that has been proposed there. To the knowledge of Ms McAleer, are we active in this area? The visa policies of Canada and Australia can make it difficult for some people who wish to emigrate to get into those countries. Difficulties can also be encountered by people whose visas expire while they are in those countries. I know that particular hardship was imposed on some young people who had to leave employment out there and return home even though there appeared to be plenty of job opportunities in the sectors they were working in.

Ms McAleer's work is very welcome. This material will be of great value to us as we reflect on the need to support our emigrants. I come from a very rural community. We are conscious that many people in the age cohort mentioned by Ms McAleer are leaving. We see the much-reduced panels that are available to football and hurling clubs and other sporting organisations. This is a huge challenge for the country. Support is needed. The creation of job opportunities here would be the most successful way of eliminating the difficulties faced by so many of those people. I thank Ms McAleer again for her presentation and welcome her work in this regard.