Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I refer to the Working Abroad Expo. Quite a few people commented to me about it and I made a special effort to watch a news clip on it. It was graphic testimony to what is happening in this country in that 5,000 or more, mainly young, people were queueing up to find out whether they could get work elsewhere. It is a sign of where we are and of the great haemorrhage of our youth. That said, it shows up both the challenge facing us and the failure of austerity. However, I wish to especially commend the work the Taoiseach has done in the United States. It is a good initiative that I support fully and warmly commend. I also commend and thank President Clinton for his efforts.

However, because the diaspora thinks and cares about home, there are other ways to get them to connect to us. Perhaps the Taoiseach has had the opportunity to raise the possibilities offered by the proposed constitutional convention. I have made this point previously and have written to the Taoiseach in this regard. The diaspora wants to see the country back on track and wishes to be involved in its recovery. There is a perfect opportunity to involve the diaspora in this regard in order that we are not always simply asking them to do things. Instead, there is an opportunity to give them their rights as citizens to vote in presidential elections and so on. I note these are rights enjoyed by citizens of other states. I acknowledge the Taoiseach will have the opportunity to so do around St. Patrick's Day but did he raise the issue of Pat Finucane with anyone as he had promised? He had stated he would raise this issue in the United States. Did the Taoiseach have the opportunity and did he raise these two matters?

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