Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the witnesses and thank them for the important work they do. Sometimes the work done for Irish people abroad, particularly in advocating for people who have fallen on hard times, goes unappreciated here. I refer also to the work in the context of the legal loophole that has caused significant misery for undocumented Irish people in the United States and the continual campaign on that. Perhaps when Mr. O'Dwyer has finished working on that in the US, he will come to Ireland where we also have issues in regard to how we deal with some of the immigrants to our shores. Unfortunately, there might be work to keep him busy for a long time.

There have been consistent waves of emigration to the United Kingdom and the United States. In more recent times, we may have applauded ourselves and appeased our consciences somewhat by assuming and telling ourselves that those emigrating now are better educated and can sustain themselves in Britain, Australia or the United States. However, there is always a cohort that slips through that net. It happens in Ireland and is bound to happen elsewhere.

In regard to the profile of our emigrants, the witnesses have pointed out that the Irish community in the United Kingdom is getting elderly. Many of those people who emigrated in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s would have gone into the types of occupation where there was little health and safety awareness at the time. I refer primarily to the construction industry. I assume our witnesses see many of these emigrants come towards the end of their lives in poor mental and physical health. Many of them had poor educational standards and many of them may now feel isolated because their peers have moved on or passed away. In that environment, is there more we can do to support Irish communities and centres abroad? What can we do to assist those people who are on the verge of falling away from society completely?

I have been to New York, London, Liverpool and elsewhere many times and when visiting Irish bars or communities one can sense there is a cohort of people in a desperate situation. I have noticed, particularly in the past number of years, that more people are dying abroad with no family support. Sometimes we are contacted, mainly by people in rural areas, such as west Cork or Mayo, asking if we can do something for these people. It is sad to see that people reach the end of life and have no support or family around for them. This is not a criticism of the Irish centres abroad, but an observation of the fact that we need to do more on this for people who have fallen on hard times. These emigrants have removed themselves from society and their own communities and then seem to have dropped out. How are we to keep in contact with them? Often they drift from bedsit to bedsit and it is difficult to keep in communication with them. How are we to do that?

Reference was made to the health of the second generation Irish community in the United Kingdom. I am concerned by what was said. We all accept that young people go abroad, where they may work and play hard, and that their health outcomes might not be what they should be. However, second generation family members are falling into that same trap. What is the reason for this? What observations would the witnesses make in that regard? Is it something inherent in the Irish make-up? Mention was made of the Caribbean, Pakistani and Indian communities, which do not seem to follow the same pattern and whose second generation picks itself up quickly.

In regard to mental health, there is no point pretending all is well. There have been stains on us in terms of how, for example, we dealt with young girls who got pregnant outside of marriage or people of different sexual orientation and the stigmas attached to that which caused these people to leave Ireland. I assume and hope emigration for these reasons has slowed down and that there is not the same level of these people going abroad or that not as many people are presenting in the United Kingdom with these challenges. It was not always to better their lives that these people went to the United Kingdom but to avoid bringing shame on their families.

Can the witnesses give us some advice on what we can do? Our record on what we have done to help those abroad is not great. We have not embraced our emigrant communities as much as we should, other than through nostalgia, in terms of hard core support.