Dáil debates

Wednesday, 7 November 2007

Undocumented Irish in the United States: Motion (Resumed).

 

8:00 pm

Photo of Billy TimminsBilly Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Deputy Ring has afforded me a minute or two out of the kindness of his heart. I met a young Brazilian girl whose father was murdered in central Brazil. The back up we have for such people in this country is lamentable and regrettable. This girl was really lost and alone. She was several thousand miles from home and was virtually penniless, scraping together a few bob cleaning kitchen floors. We must look at how we treat such people in this country, in addition to ensuring that our people abroad are well looked after.

The local has become the global in recent times and many people have reidentified their Irish roots. In addition to looking at the US situation, I would like the Minister to look at others areas with Irish diasporas. I am thinking in particular of Irish people in countries like Argentina in South America, which I have mentioned here during the passports debate. We must take a proactive role in identifying where those people are and seeking to put in place bilateral agreements with the relevant countries so that we can facilitate interchange between our countries.

It is important to realise that particularly in England and to a lesser extent in the US there are small Irish enclaves beyond which Irish people did not move due to the critical mass they had in times past. With people aging and passing on, these people have become isolated and we have seen from clips from various television programmes how that isolation impacts on people. I want to see more funding and a more proactive approach from this Government in assisting the people out there. I commend my colleague, Deputy Ring, and thank him for affording me those additional minutes.

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