Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The Irish abroad unit has worked intensely with several groups considering renewing their premises. Financial assistance in this respect will be examined. Most local authorities in the UK are very receptive to assisting the Irish associations because, generally speaking, they must deal not only with Irish people but with other ethnic communities, which I think the Deputy saw. There are issues in regard to assistance for people who left in 1955. I am aware of this issue, given my ministerial history in the Departments of Social, Community and Family Affairs and Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. I made the very significant decision in regard to the pre-1953 pensions, which is now costing the Exchequer €82 million. I am not making a political point but it was one of the best decisions made even though the Comptroller and Auditor General has criticised the cost estimate in regard to it. That decision, in effect, rewarded those people who paid pre-1953 stamps but who got no pension credit for doing so. Many thousands of people, particularly elderly people, in the UK have benefited from that move made by me. The priority from this Department's point of view is in the context of the funding we have received, with an increase of 850% since 1997 in funding for voluntary agencies. How that funding is dispensed is an issue for the Irish abroad unit.

Given my ministerial history, I am acutely aware of the free travel issue. When I was Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, I considered this issue. It is easy to call for free travel but there are difficult issues in regard to the reciprocity of free schemes between EU countries and whether it can be ring-fenced to include Irish people living in the UK as opposed to those living elsewhere in the EU. There are very difficult administrative and cost issues. The main issue is how it can be ring-fenced without the possibility of it being challenged by Irish people living elsewhere in the EU. That is the difficulty that is being addressed by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs.

I am aware of the television issue because it was raised with me when I visited the groups. It is an extremely complex issue, as I am aware from my experience in my last Ministry. RTE buys US programmes at a much lower rate than, for example, Channel 4. The distribution rights and cost of programmes are based on audience numbers. We cannot order RTE to increase its transmit to the UK because, obviously, it would have to make commercial decisions and it would have implications for its ongoing funding. However, if such a decision was made, it would have huge cost implications for RTE. Tara TV, for example, tried to provide a service on satellite and cable but it went into liquidation because of a lack of commercial success, which makes reintervention in that market very difficult from a commercial point of view. The Irish abroad unit is considering, from a general policy point of view, examples in other countries which perhaps we could follow.

It is accepted that we look after our old age pensioners much better than the UK, in particular, and other countries. When these people come back home and see the benefits, particularly the additional benefits our people get under the social welfare system, they say they need them. There is an element of free travel in the UK for old age pensioners but it is confined to certain geographical areas in the country — it is not universal. We are lucky the free travel scheme in the Republic is universal.

See this speech in context