Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegates. I have been dealing with Safe Home Ireland in County Mayo for many years. I thank all those involved for their support and assistance in bringing many people home to County Kerry to end their days in the place they left 40 or 50 years ago. I thank them for the part they have played in assisting the people concerned to return home to end their days in their home country.

I have personal experience of some of the issues highlighted, including the one highlighted by Mr. Staunton of licence renewal. I know of a young man who passed his driving test in Ireland and received a full licence and who then went to work in the United States for a few years. His driving licence has now expired, but he is unable to renew it without coming home to do so, which is ridiculous and shameful. As I understand it, he will be required to re-sit the driving test when he comes back. As stated by the delegates, emigrants are unable to open bank accounts and so on.

One gets the impression that the Government does not want the people concerned to come home because as long as they stay away, the unemployment figures remain low. The reason the data for unemployment rates are so low is many young people have emigrated. While previously there were two football teams in Sneem and Caherdaniel, now there is only one between the two areas because so many young people have emigrated. That gives us an idea of just how many young people are emigrating from rural areas.

It was mentioned that returning farmers had no entitlements. Young farmers living here who received their green certificates in 2014 and 2015 had no entitlements to receive anything from the national reserve in 2016.

A week or so ago I raised in the Dáil the question of what we, as Members of this House, were supposed to say to a young person who on returning home could not get insurance cover? People living in areas such as Kilmarnock in Kilgarvan or Tureencahill in Gneeveguilla cannot get to Killarney unless they have a car. We are all aware of the exorbitant cost of insurance, be it car or house insurance. Every Member has been raising this issue in the Dáil since the general election last year, in respect of which we were told the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, had commissioned an investigation. We are now being told that the Government can do nothing about the issue. This is not fair to young people, or even elderly people. I know of a woman who was paying €330 per annum for car insurance up to last year and whose premium this year is €750. We do not know the half of what is going on.

Farmers who move abroad for a year or two or even shorter periods cannot retain their farm payments. What are we to say to people who want to come home but who cannot afford to buy a property? They are in a catch 22 in that they cannot get onto a housing list because they are living abroad. If they do come home, they will have nowhere to live and if they are not on the housing list, they will not be able to access rent allowance. There are many questions that need to be answered and as elected Members, we feel adequate in not being able to tell the people concerned what they should do. There are too many blockages in the system. I know of a number of young people who have come to live in Ireland in their father's home but because they were not born here they cannot access PPS numbers. According to the Department of Social Protection, it is not a matter that is within its bailiwick. The same response has been received from other agencies. What are the people concerned to do because if they cannot access PPS numbers, they cannot access social welfare benefits and so on? Are they expected to live on the wind?

I thank the delegates for being here. Ideas they give us will be taken on board. We appreciate that they have taken the time to come here to highlight the problems they are experiencing. We will do our best to help in any way we can.