Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence
Emigrant Support Services: Discussion
Ms Aileen Leonard Dibra:
The relationships we have built with the global Irish network is one of the things that, through the coalition and with our membership, we have done well in recent years, especially during the pandemic when we were looking at crisis returns for people. There is a real network through organisations such as the Crosscare Migrant Project, Safe Home Ireland and the consular offices throughout the United States. The network is ready, willing and able to help people in the US or people across the Atlantic who are trying to come here. We are happy to be doing that.
I will address wellness, which covers several questions that were asked. I will group several topics. I will address wellness and questions about returning home, part of which includes some of the work the centres have done well during the pandemic, and continue to do well, in supporting the community here. All of the centres here provide some form of wellness programming. Our centres range in size and capacity but they all provide support to the Irish community in terms of wellness. That can range from resource and referral all the way up to on-site clinical support. There are avenues through which people can get the help they need. A continuum of services is provided by the centres with best practice and professional learning support from the coalition. I wanted to highlight that. I will hand over to Ms Kennelly to talk a little more about the wellness programme in San Francisco. As the chair of the coalition board, she may be able to say a little about what we have seen during the pandemic as people moved to remote working. I am happy to jump back in if needed.
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