Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The lack of opportunity, promotion and work forced hundreds of thousands of our citizens to emigrate over the past ten years. This was exacerbated by the austerity measures implemented by Fine Gael and Labour. Many of our young people, who lost their jobs or had no opportunity to build a life or career here, left. Then, just like now, there was no expectation among large sections of our people that they can be born, live, work, set down roots and grow old in the place of their birth. This is an Irish tragedy that needs to be addressed.

Many have been able to return or want to return, but they face significant barriers in doing so. According to recent figures from the Central Statistics Office, almost 127,000 Irish emigrants have returned home to live in Ireland.

One of the barriers they face is the recognition and transfer of driving licences. Sometimes their driving licences will not be recognised here and they have to go through the lengthy process of sitting a theory test, 12 compulsory driving lessons and the driving test. Surely a more streamlined system can be set up where they could perhaps skip the compulsory lessons and simply take a theory and practical test here or the authorities might adopt a more flexible recognition of foreign driving licences. I listened to the Minister of State say the requirement on returning emigrants with non-exchangeable driving licences has reduced from 12 mandatory driving lessons to six but that is still a barrier. Many of these returning emigrants have been driving all their lives.

Another major hurdle is the astronomically high cost of car insurance which the Minister of State also addressed in his speech. This is a problem affecting all drivers, but particularly returning emigrants because their previous driving experience abroad is set aside, ignored and in no way taken into account. The Minister of State said he is meeting the motor insurers. However, we have not seen it impacting on those returning emigrants and I suppose that will be the proof that it is working or not. In fact, insurance costs are increasing for many, including many drivers. We all have experience of that.

Additionally, many experience considerable difficulties in getting loans for buying a house or car when they initially return. As with all citizens in Ireland, access to affordable housing is the most prominent issue of concern for returning emigrants, as is access to schools, third level education fees and affordable child care. We need to end the inequality in Irish society, invest in public services and properly regulate the banks and financial institutions. Only then will we make Ireland a prosperous place for all our citizens and end these barriers for returning emigrants. There needs to be joined-up thinking and a new Government approach to tackle these issues and remove these unnecessary road blocks. The Government has commissioned an economic report on the improvements needed to facilitate returning emigrants. We were told in January it would be ready in the coming weeks. Can the Minister of State inform us when it will be completed and published? Will he commit to having a debate on it here in the Dáil?

Voting rights were mentioned in the Minister of State's speech. Sinn Féin has long advocated for the diaspora to be enfranchised. This is the norm for countries around the world and Ireland's total disenfranchisement of its diaspora makes it an outsider in this regard. According to research by the Overseas Vote Foundation, 115 other countries extend some form of the right to vote to citizens living abroad.

We unequivocally support the right of all Irish citizens of voting age to vote for the President, regardless of their place of residence. Furthermore, we believe that the Irish diaspora should have the right to appropriate representation in the Dáil by way of a reserved constituency, with voting rights subject to a valid passport and regular registration requirement, and also be entitled to representation in a reformed Seanad. We also believe that the right to vote in Dáil, Seanad and presidential elections should be extended to Irish citizens in the North and all adults of voting age who have been legally resident in this State for at least five years.

The diaspora is a fundamentally important part of the Irish nation, in both historical and contemporary terms. For many Irish emigrants departure from and-or continuing non-residence in Ireland has been promoted by an economic or political situation beyond their control. For those diasporic citizens who exert the effort to maintain connections to the nation of their birth or ancestry, that is to their credit. More than ever before, Irish citizens abroad and the diaspora are connected to Ireland and are able to keep themselves informed of developments at home, mainly due to modern technological advances. Extending voting rights and allowing the Irish diaspora to express their democratic voice is one of the inclusive actions which the Government can take to help improve and strengthen its relationship with the diaspora. We urgently need to have a referendum on extending presidential voting rights to the diaspora and citizens in the North, but we also need to have a detailed debate on how to open up the Dáil and Seanad for these citizens and to grant them voting rights so they can elect Members of the Oireachtas to represent them.

Lastly, I want to discuss the undocumented Irish in the USA whom others have referred to. Next week will, once again, see the Taoiseach travel to Washington D.C. for St. Patrick's Day and I hope he will make reference to the difficulties faced by the undocumented in the USA. Unfortunately, the political situation has changed radically in the USA in recent years and immigration reform has become a hugely partisan and politically contentious issue. Clearly, there is no consensus there at present. There will be no deal for the undocumented Irish as a single unit but rather there will have to be wide-ranging immigration reform to deal with the millions of undocumented citizens in the USA. This is sensible and logical. This is a difficult and contentious issue and ultimately a domestic issue for the USA but, because it concerns so many Irish citizens, we need to continue to advocate for it.

However, we must not forget the undocumented living in Ireland. According to the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, there are between 20,000 and 26,000 undocumented persons of all ages living and working on our shores. The Government must introduce measures to help create a pathway to regularise the immigration status of undocumented persons in this State as well.

It is time to take a new approach in how this State and our diaspora engages. This must be based on sustainable connectivity, which is both strategic and meaningful and has a real sense of purpose. Ireland is in transition and as we move forward, we must do so as one nation and a people together.

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