Mr. Richard King:

I thank the committee members for inviting us to speak about the barriers and issues facing Irish emigrants returning home. Crosscare Migrant Project is funded by the emigrant support programme, ESP, in the Department of Foreign Affairs. We provide an information and advocacy service that supports Irish citizens who are leaving and returning to Ireland. We have more than 20 years’ experience doing that work and we work closely with Irish consular services and missions as well as Irish organisations around the world, including our colleagues in the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers, CIIC.

The Central Statistics Office has shown a steady increase in Irish people returning to Ireland in recent years, rising to in excess 30,000 in 2021. The profile of people returning is varied, ranging from individuals to couples and families with children to retirees and pensioners. The circumstances of their return are also varied. Some come back in a very planned fashion, with jobs and accommodation arranged. Others come back out of necessity to look after family members or because they have no legal options to stay in the country to which they emigrated. Others come back in crisis due to various reasons, including deportation, homelessness and mental or physical health problems. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the numbers of people returning or planning to return and we believe this trend will continue.

Our core focus is on those who are vulnerable or marginalised and who are lacking family or other support networks in Ireland on which so many returning emigrants rely. These are people who are most in need of support during the critical period of arriving and post arrival. We do a lot of work with Irish groups and Irish consular services, and we engage with key agencies in Ireland. We have identified three main areas where issues arise and we have done a considerable amount of work in these areas over the years. Those areas are access to social protection, access to emergency accommodation or shelter, and visa or immigration issues.

I am sure members of the committee are aware of issues around social protection. One of the main barriers is the issue of access to social protection and the habitual residence condition, HRC. The HRC has been an issue for more than 15 years. We successfully advocated for changes to the HRC guidelines that adopted specific recognition of returning Irish citizens in 2010. The situation improved, but more than a decade later, it has become evident that issues with the HRC are again adversely affecting people returning to live in Ireland today. In the majority of the cases we deal with, the individuals are in very vulnerable situations such as homelessness or at risk of homelessness, with no income or support networks. Some have children or further health and social care support needs.

Key issues include a lack of understanding of how the five factors of HRC can be applied to returning emigrants, which is most likely due to lack of specific training. There is sometimes a default to refusals where the deciding officer effectively defers a decision to the appeals office, which causes delays. There is a disparity in the treatment of Irish citizens from minority ethnic backgrounds, particularly those who have naturalised. The traditional routes for interim payments, such as supplementary welfare assistance, take as long to process as standard payments, which negates their effectiveness. Our 2018 report, A Hundred Thousand Welcomes?, outlined these issues. Our work over the past four years has shown those issues still exist.

Housing and homelessness are major issues facing many people in Ireland today but there are specific needs for emigrants returning into homelessness. These people often return at short notice, in some cases assisted by our consular services, and with a wide range of needs on return. We have identified a critical period of the 72 hours after landing and an urgent period of ten days following that where better systems need to be in place to support these people. To access homeless emergency accommodation, people need to engage with the relevant local authority to have their needs assessed. This usually requires the submission of a social housing application to undergo a housing needs assessment, and that takes time. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee the person will be placed in emergency accommodation while this assessment takes place, which means he or she could be left with nowhere to sleep. In our experience, there can be reluctance on the part of some local authorities to provide emergency accommodation where a person does not have a recent Irish address, even if he or she has an obvious local connection to the area.

Interestingly, the public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us a model on how such cases could be handled. The HSE set up self-isolation facilities for vulnerable people that we were able to utilise for crisis returnees until those facilities closed in September 2021. We were able to make referrals that effectively ensured two weeks of accommodation for returning emigrants on their arrival home. This allowed us, and on-site staff, to engage with the local authorities, the Department of Social Protection and other services. It created a buffer period that took the immediate risk out of returning home in crisis. It allowed essential and wrap-around supports to be put in place, giving time to secure further temporary homeless accommodation following the two-week period.

An increasing number of people are returning with non-EU family members, mainly spouses and partners but also in some cases children or other dependants. The major concern for such family units is the system of applying for immigration permission for the non-EU family member. Different rules apply to different categories of people. A 2018 report was commissioned by the then Minister with responsibility for the diaspora and carried out by Indecon. The report identified de facto partners as a distinct group where there were issues involved. A system of pre-clearance was implemented following that report. That system, in general, works well as it gives assurances to applicants they will be able to register to live and work in Ireland on arrival. However, the downside is the processing times, which are variable and recently jumped from three months to six months, with the potential for longer delays.

Non-visa required spouses and children can enter Ireland easily and, in general, can register with immigration with few difficulties. However, visa-required spouses and children have to submit a visa application prior to returning, and while such an application can be processed via the Dublin office in three to four months, it can in some cases take up to 12 months. We have seen appeal periods adding two years to the processing time. We are also receiving reports of delays in the foreign birth registration process. The timeframe involved now stands at approximately two years. That is a barrier for some people who wish to return with Irish children who have Irish passports.

The impacts of these delays are most immediately obvious in situations of crisis returns, where there is a chance of the family being split up for long periods of time. Uncertain processing times can also make planning more difficult. We support planned returns because they are in the best interests of everyone involved.

Solutions can be found for all of the issues I have outlined. Some solutions can be implemented within existing structures, for example, specific training on HRC could be made mandatory for social protection deciding officers. Shortened processing times and an emergency processing system for visas could also be implemented. Other solutions can be found by looking at best practice and developing new processes. For example, we propose a protocol that would allow immediate accommodation of Irish citizens and their families returning in crisis, which would be put in place by all local authorities.

Ireland’s diaspora strategy for 2020 to 2025 clearly focuses on a number of areas relevant to today’s discussion. One of the key areas is the welfare of the Irish abroad, which by extension must include those returning. Another important area is the diverse nature of our diaspora. Those are two areas where we are focussing our work.

We have initiated a piece of research into the experiences of Irish emigrants from minority ethnic backgrounds, a group that has traditionally been little recognised but that is increasingly becoming a feature of our diaspora. We earlier referenced the disparity in treatment some Irish citizens from minority ethnic backgrounds have received upon returning to Ireland, and we hope our research will help to inform and educate about this specific group.

With a view to supporting Irish community and welfare organisations post pandemic, we carried out a piece of research in the middle of the pandemic, which was published in 2021 under the title Ní Neart Go Cur Le Chéile. It showed how Irish organisations around the world rallied to provide essential supports. Their ability to do this was in large part due to the ongoing investment by Ireland in the ESP, which provides core funding to organisations such as Crosscare, the CIIC and hundreds of others, and is essential to maintaining and developing the support our diaspora needs, especially those who are at risk or vulnerable. ESP-funded organisations on the ground around the world, working in partnership with Irish missions and each other, are uniquely placed to provide the bespoke assistance and help that makes the commitments in Ireland’s diaspora strategy a reality. ESP funding should be increased to offer more support and opportunities for development to existing and potential recipients.

I will also make a point about The Inter-Departmental Committee on the Irish Abroad.

That committee cuts across all Departments and should provide an opportunity for them to contribute to efforts to support our diaspora, specifically those who are returning. The remit of all these Departments is foreign affairs in Ireland. However, that committee does not have the weight or authority of an Oireachtas committee or subcommittee. A dedicated subcommittee of this committee should be established to oversee these efforts.

I thank members for their interest and we are happy to answer any questions they have.