Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is incorrect in his second assertion. There were no proposals for reform or amalgamation of embassies. There were straightforward proposals to get rid of embassies in order to cut the number of embassies by 2007. I chose a different approach because I believe we need our embassies overseas as part of Ireland's overall programme of economic recovery and in terms of the international profile of Ireland, the messages we are conveying about Ireland internationally, and the work our embassies do with State agencies, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Bord Bia. That work is indispensable and is a key in attracting inward investment and assisting our State enterprises in the food and tourism sectors. That is the call we made. Having said that, we managed to achieve the savings, which were identified over a three-year period in the McCarthy report, in one year. That is the policy decision we took.

The Deputy mentioned support for Irish emigrants. The allocation of €13 million is still very significant and I believe the Deputy's remarks were a bit over the top. We are in a difficult budgetary situation. The Deputy should remember that over the past six years the Government has provided more than €60 million through the programme to support Irish emigrants overseas and to facilitate extensive Irish-related cultural business and community projects. There is a range of projects that we supported from the cultural, welfare, business and particularly artistic sides. It has yielded very positive results. I recently met people involved in the front-line services in Great Britain and the United States. They are genuinely happy that we have broadly speaking been able to maintain the allocations to all these organisations. It is a significant achievement in itself.

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