Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All three members of the committee who have spoken have raised some pertinent questions. I am sure the three remaining speakers will raise further questions.

As regards communications, Deputies Bernard J. Durkan and Brendan Smith referred to the older Irish who would not be into social media. I agree with them that we did not realise the importance of the long wave 252 transmitter until RTE decided to discontinue using it. There was then a remarkable response from Irish people, not only in Britain but also in Northern Ireland who were concerned about the issue. It is welcome that RTE has extended use of the transmitter until 2017. We have funded research to determine the size of the audience which will I hope guarantee the future of the service in determining what the audience requires and how important it is to it. The feedback I have received, including especially correspondence from the United Kingdom, clearly demonstrates that the long wave transmitter is an important line of communication for the diaspora, not only elderly people, living in Britain and Northern Ireland.

RTE recently launched the international player and I attended the event. Last summer its product GAAGO proved to be very successful. When I was in America, I met the proprietors of major Irish bars in many cities. They were not seeing as many customers coming to watch GAA matches because they were now watching them at home. Although at times games were being shown early in the morning, people were getting together in their homes to watch matches. The international player service will be a major contributor to communication between Ireland and the rest of the world.

The new Irish TV initiative is also proving to be effective. It is being carried on the Sky platform. Its directors are in contact with major American broadcasters and I hope the service will be carried on a number of platforms there. There is a lot of enthusiasm and excitement about it. I recognise its work in reaching out to the diaspora. It uses local positive stories about Ireland from each county, which people like. Research has recently been undertaken in Limerick by GLN, Global Limerick Network. It was established by Mr. Tim O'Connor, a former Irish consul-general in New York. The research shows that people want to hear positive stories from their respective counties and the country generally because that is what excites them. Irish TV is doing this by seeking positive stories from all counties which are then broadcast internationally. It is an important development.

The county associations, including those in Dublin, are powerful. I recently attended an event in County Kerry which was attended by 550 people to honour a great Kerryman in London, Danny Tim O'Sullivan, and it was totally booked out. The Mayo association held a major event in Dublin recently. County associations are not as strong as they used to be, but I agree with the Deputies that they are important. We should make efforts to encourage and keep them together. During the years I have developed a network for County Kerry. It was easy enough to do because there was a major affinity on the part of people who had left but who returned regularly to attend major events every September. When I attended the global economic forum, I did not see many of the people I knew from around the world, although there were a few successful Kerry people in attendance. I am sure it is the same for every other county. I have been building a network through LinkedIn, as well as holding meetings with people from County Kerry in different cities around the world.

We are working with the local enterprise offices and will be launching the initiative shortly. I hope the offices will have a designated person who will co-ordinate each county's business networks. Networks, by their nature, depend on the enthusiasm of the people involved. If, however, they are connected with the local authority, there is a better chance they will be sustainable for the future. I invite all members of the committee to attend the launches with the county managers and the chief executives of the LEOs. It will provide a good opportunity to create links between counties and the diaspora in a professional and sustainable way. I also hope we will be able to revive the county associations through this initiative. Local councillors will be able to identify and recommend businesses for inclusion in the database.

The Constitutional Convention recommended members of the diaspora have a vote in presidential elections. The next presidential election will be held in 2018, which gives us the advantage of time. There are approximately 1 million active Irish passport holders - it must be remembered a passport has to be renewed every ten years - living outside of the country, including in Northern Ireland. There are many others who are entitled to hold an Irish passport but who may not have applied for one. This database of passport holders could provide a register of electors. The Taoiseach is personally committed to this issue because he has a significant connection with the diaspora. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is the line Department in charge of dealing with it. I will be working on it with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, to examine the logistics and the challenges involved. The matter is being taken very seriously by the Government. As the next presidential election will not be held until 2018, we have time to ensure we get it right. We must make it clear who can vote and where they can do so. We must decide whether there will be postal or electronic voting, or at embassies or consulates. As it may be difficult for some to avail of the latter option, we are examining all other scenarios. Other Governments have examined this issue, but this is the first time it has been taken seriously. It will also be the first time in the history of the State that members of the diaspora will vote in a presidential election.

Deputy Brendan Smith raised the issue of members of the diaspora voting in Seanad elections. The Irish in Britain group made a good submission on extending voting rights in Seanad elections to Maurice Manning’s Seanad reform working group. It was similar to a proposal I had made in 1991 in the Dáil in calling for one Senator to represent the USA, Canada and South America, one senator to represent Europe, including the United Kingdom, and one Senator to represent Australia and the rest of the world. If there was a register of electors for the diaspora for presidential elections, it could also be used for Seanad elections. It will be interesting to see the recommendations of the Seanad reform working group on this proposal. There would be a possibility of examining nominees for these positions before we were ready for Seanad elections, but that is a matter for the Government to decide.

The issue of the undocumented Irish in America is challenging and complicated. During the years successive Taoisigh have made this one of their main discussion points with various US Presidents when they have the unique opportunity to meet them on St. Patrick's Day. It is estimated that there are 50,000 undocumented Irish, but it could be more or it could be less. The Obama initiative would help approximately 3 million undocumented immigrants, allowing those with children and no criminal records and who were willing to settle tax arrears the right to stay in America and providing a pathway to their becoming legal and fully documented. The initiative is, however, being contested in the US courts as there is, unfortunately, huge opposition to it from the Republican Party. Yesterday Paul Ryan, a leading Republican, visited Leinster House, which gave me a chance to raise this issue with him. Whereas the Republicans are concerned about the Obama initiative, they are open to certain initiatives that we might be able to take to help undocumented Irish immigrants, as well as others. It is not that Republicans are closed to immigration reform, but they believe the President went beyond his executive powers.

The Mitchell scholarships are not confined to members of the Irish diaspora and are a good example of how scholarships can work. One initiative arising from the diaspora policy we will be rolling out is similar to one that has proved to be very successful in Israel, the Taglit birthright scheme. It would allow third generation Irish people to spend ten days free in Ireland learning about Irish culture and heritage. I hope some of the young people involved may return to Ireland to pursue other education programmes in the future. The programme will commence this year.

It has proven to be very successful in Israel. We will target third generation Irish people and I hope it will become a broader programme in future. The idea is that because there is no legal pathway of immigration to America, at this time there are approximately 150,000 people in America who were born in Ireland. That connection would wane as time goes on and generations pass, so we are trying to reconnect with the third generation to keep the connection going. It will be an important initiative from this programme.

I am glad Deputy Eric Byrne raised the issue of St. Patrick's Day. When I was Minister, I assembled a number of people, based on the success of Dublin events. The Dublin festival is now a major event that is organised and co-ordinated properly. I wanted to use the Dublin example to co-ordinate all the St. Patrick's Day parades all over the world. Perhaps there could even be one database that could show what is happening all over the world and who are the organisers, so if people such as musicians wanted to travel to perform, they could make their services available. If organisers wanted people to come from Ireland, they could use the same database. I have continued this work in the Department and it is mentioned in the policy. We will accelerate that work for the next St. Patrick's Day, and I hope we will have more co-ordination on what is happening all over the world. There are several parades that we are not even aware of, and more parades could take place around the world if they could be encouraged. There must be some focus and co-ordination, and I hope we can link the processes online, for example.

I am glad the Deputy raised the issue, as it is a marvellous opportunity. We are the only country in the world which is received at the White House on our national day. For those of us lucky enough to be abroad - I was in Chicago - we know that the world feels a connection with Ireland on St. Patrick's Day and even on the days before that. I have always recognised that and the connection is growing as time goes on. St. Patrick's Day is becoming a bigger cultural event. Where once it may have been associated with revelry, it is now more associated with culture, quality, business and every aspect of being Irish that is good. It provides us with a great platform and I hope we will continue to work on that.