Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman and the committee for organising this discussion. It is very important from the point of view of the Diaspora and the Irish nation reaching out and talking to each other. I hope it will set a precedent for the future that we can have further discussions such as this. Certainly, I am more informed than when we started. I thank Dr. Mary Tilki, Ms Jenny McShannon and Mr. Brian O'Dwyer for their well informed contributions. They hit all of the important subjects and we have all learned from the exercise. I note also the people involved in the emigrant support programme, including Mr. Ciarán Madden, Ms Emer Rocke and my officials, as well as Ms Celine Byrne. They have all been involved in the programme for a number of years and it has been very effective.

To answer a few questions, Deputy Sandra McClellan said the funding did not appear to be too generous. I have been in the Oireachtas a long time and was not aware that the funding was as generous as it had been, notwithstanding the financial challenges in recent years. To the end of 2013, the Government had spent €114 million on the emigrant support programme. At the end of this year, it will have spent €126.1 million.

The UK was the main beneficiary because, obviously, more people go to there as it is easier to access. Up to the end of 2013, the UK received €84.2 million and the US was next with €19.7 million. Australia received €2.3 million. The Irish taxpayer through the Irish Government has been generous despite the challenges we face here in various areas. That should be acknowledged, and I acknowledge previous governments' contributions. I hope that we are retaining it and I hope to increase it as things get better here. That is very important.

I will refer briefly to a few issues. The first relates to inter-generational connections among Irish communities overseas. I have noticed that myself, and I have seen some really good connections. I will certainly be making a greater effort to encourage younger Irish people to get involved in the various organisations and centres. Our ambassador in London, Dan Mulhall, held a meeting of young Irish groups in the embassy. Perhaps Ms McShannon might comment on that. This meeting is a start. I visited London recently and would like to thank all those people for the very generous and warm welcome they gave me. It was uplifting and positive and certainly makes one want to do more for the organisations over there because they are so positive and committed. The next time I visit, I will try to connect with the younger Irish generations over there, in New York and other centres around the world. There is a really strong commitment from the younger population in Australia.

I will mention a few initiatives about Irish people coming back and being supported. Safe Home, in which a former Member of this House from Mayo, Dr. Jerry Cowley, is very much involved, has been very successful. The Aisling Project, which brings people back for holidays here, is very positive. I visited that centre in London. An issue that has consistently come up is the question of how we communicate with our diaspora. I am launching a new diaspora strategy shortly. We will be addressing that issue. During my visit to London, I launched a very good website called Craic It London by a girl called Catriona Casey. This has proven to be quite successful in providing information. I also launched a website for the Aisling Project. Apart from the centres, the emigrant organisations are responding and providing this information online.

In conclusion, I am delighted to be here. I will be launching the strategy shortly and a number of points raised here will be addressed in it. I may come back in the future to discuss the strategy with the committee but there will be an emphasis on health and providing information for our diaspora and for people to make better lifestyle decisions in areas like looking after their fitness and ensuring that they avail of services. One of the prime purposes of the emigrant support programme is to support organisations to ensure that people are aware of the services to which they are entitled, regardless of whether they are in London, New York, Manchester, Liverpool or Melbourne.