Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations.

I am a returned emigrant. I returned from London. I am familiar with the great work that both Ms McHugh, in Mulranny, and Mr. Staunton do with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. I agree with much of what they are saying. The minute one gets on a boat, as I did quite a long time ago, one loses citizenship. One goes from being an Irish citizen to being an immigrant. It is a case of out of sight, out of mind. That is how it has been for decades, and the way that it still is. Look at the most recent publication, Realising our Rural Potential. The investment, work, creativity, education and experience that returning emigrants have brought to places like Mayo and elsewhere in rural Ireland is absolutely invaluable. While it might be amusing to some people here, it is an extremely serious issue. Why are we putting barriers in place? Why, out of all of the 230 actions in here, which is a crazy number for a plan anywhere, do I not see anything - maybe there is somewhere - that is progressive or positive about barriers for returning emigrants here? Emigrants formed, and because of the last cohort of people who have had to emigrate will in the future form, a huge part of the redevelopment and rebalancing of Ireland as a whole, yet they do not even deserve a mention in here.

We need to look at what can be practically done here. I want to display my absolute dismay at both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for not supporting voting rights for the diaspora. I cannot for the life of me understand why they are afraid to give voting rights to the diaspora. That is part of the crux of it. If all of the diaspora, or at least a part worked out from how many years they had been abroad, had their voting entitlement, they would have to stand up and listen. It would not be a case of them saying they need a few quid for something and that they will go out and shake down the diaspora, who are always good for a few quid, and that then they will forget about them again until the next time they need a few quid. If they had voting rights here, including my relations, and if I had had voting rights while I was gone, then they would have to listen because they must listen to the electorate. Until the diaspora or indeed Irish citizens in the North have a vote, they do not need to be listened to. It is a bit like the matter in rural Ireland where there are Civil War politics, where they could go into a village and say: "There are 69 for me and 72 for you so off we go, why would we bother investing there?" Why would they bother listening to the diaspora?

There are very practical things that can be done in each of the Departments, for example in the Department of Social Protection. In particular, the habitual residency clause that was brought in has really caused awful problems, because citizens are then treated the same as anybody coming into this country who has never spent any time here. There could be a desk in each of the Departments dedicated to the diaspora. I take fully what was said by Mr. Staunton about it because my findings are that some of these Departments ask people why they do not go back to where they were. There is that underlying sentiment of: "Do you really need to be here bothering me about this? I have enough to do to look after the people who are there." That attitude must change. It is almost like rural-proofing of documents. There needs to be diaspora-proofing of actions within each of the Departments, whether the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, or the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. The habitual residency clause needs to be changed to take into account Irish citizens.

We have gone through car insurance. My colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty and I, and others cross-party, made a submission to the insurance industry about the huge problems that exist for returning emigrants. I understand what Mr. Staunton is saying about farming. The green certificate has to be done. There have to be ways of doing that. There is technology. If somebody is planning to come from abroad, there is no reason why six months or 12 months beforehand, they cannot start doing a green certificate course online to make them ready. Of course they need to be ready and have everything in place. Let them have access to the national reserve based on that so that they can have their entitlements as well. It is not about doing them any favours. It is just about creating a level playing field and recognising what those young farmers will bring to that community in terms of ideas and attitudes.

The other big problem I come across relates to pensions. If somebody worked here for three weeks in the summer in 1969, and they then come to get their pension here, the levelling out and the way it is averaged across the years means that person returning is at a very distinct disadvantage, and on a very reduced pension entitlement, if any at all. If there was somebody in the pensions area who was looking specifically at that and dealing with that problem, it could be dealt with. The other situation we have encountered of late is where spouses are split up, where the only way they can pay the mortgage is if the husband works abroad while the wife has to stay with the children.

In such cases, the husband will find himself becoming further alienated every six months in terms of his ability to access the systems here.

I ask the witnesses to comment on voting rights for the diaspora. Do they share Sinn Féin's sentiments on the issue? We are making efforts to have the voice of the diaspora placed front and centre in the political process and heard by the administration responsible for erecting all of these barriers.

I am not a permanent member of the joint committee but I have a special interest in hearing the comments of the emigrant groups represented. I thoroughly commend them and Mr. McMahon and Ms Sullivan on the work they are doing. I encourage them to continue their work. I speak for my party colleagues in offering Sinn Féin's full support to emigrants. We will lead the way in every we can for the diaspora.