Mr. Joe O'Brien:

We expect, and hope, there are Irish people abroad looking at the proceedings today. At the moment, we are in the middle of conducting an analysis of a mental survey we did online with 500 Irish emigrants. It occurs to me that while some people emigrate out of choice, and there is a lot to be gained by voluntary emigration, a lot of people did not leave voluntarily over the past five years. In the mental health survey we are conducting at the moment, many people abroad are suffering in a very personal way. It is heartbreaking to read some of the accounts people give about the difficulties of being away. One does not necessarily have to have visa issues not to be able to return home. People have repeatedly cited not being able to attend family events - births of children, marriages and funerals - and visits to people who are sick. It is very hard for people to deal with this. Certainly, social media can take the edge off sometimes but the majority of people who left over the past five years did not want to go and they might dispute some of the points made in terms of the positive aspects for them.

I thank and acknowledge the members' support for us. We ask all the members to do what they can to push this idea on. It is very simple and doable and the potential impacts could be very significant. As is the way with a lot of things, pressure needs to be kept up at a persistent level.