Mr. James Doorley:

We recognise that there is no magic wand and we are in a crisis. As Deputy Collins said, we cannot simply invite everyone back and tell them that there are lots of jobs because we know that is not the reality. The Chairman has touched on the fact that we need to get beyond the emotional argument in the media or the general public on whether emigration is a lifestyle choice or a necessity. From our work with young people, the position in most cases is somewhere in between because there are push and pull factors. We must recognise that young people are leaving, get beyond that and, as the Chairman said, be grown up about the matter.

We still face a big challenge, but things can be done. First is an issue that Ms McAleer has emphasised many times, but the committee might be wondering why. We only have estimated figures - the data is not robust. Even the figures that we have provided are CSO estimates. The CSO has great data on a range of other subjects but there might be a resource issue in this area. We feel strongly that, if this area is considered to be important, it should be resourced more, and that can be achieved in a short space of time.

Second is the issue that Deputies Collins and Kyne mentioned. We will not be asking every young person to return to Ireland today, but we need to keep them warm, for wont of a better phrase, engage them and tell them there is a website where they can access information. As Ms McAleer said, many emigrants are keeping an eye on what is happening at home. Even in our study we found that some young people said they were in touch with their parents more when they are away than when they are at home. There are great social networks abroad, such as the GAA and other organisations, but if the State wants to keep people warm and make them feel they are still Irish citizens, leaving aside whether they should be allowed to vote, we might need to do something else to give them a sense that we would like them to come back at some stage and hopefully create the jobs so they can do so. Those are two things that can be done in an environment in which it is tough to ask people to come back and tell them that there are loads of jobs because we know that is not the case.