Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister does not mind me saying that the response is pretty vague. It really misses the fundamental point I am trying to make. The vast majority of the 27,400 people who returned have serious difficulties getting car insurance, for example. They are rated on the basis that their previous driving experience in places such as Canada is not taken into account and their previous driving record in Ireland, including no-claims bonus, is all set aside. I am asking the Minister about practical steps being taken by the Department, for example, whether it has met with Insurance Ireland to ask why premia are being loaded for returning emigrants.

Second, most returning emigrants are now told there is a postponement period of 12 months within which they will get no health cover after they return to this country and most of them cannot transfer their health cover to Ireland. Practical measures are required such as talking to companies such as the VHI.

I put it to the Minister that he needs to meet the Irish Banking Federation because people applying for a mortgage are now asked by Bank of Ireland, for example, to provide a P60 for the previous year's earnings. Banks will not accept foreign revenue documents from returned emigrants who were in Canada, the United States or other countries. Those are practical measures that could be taken.

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