Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Members for their very informed and passionate contributions. It is more than apparent that they hold very close to their hearts the interests of our diaspora and its future. I thank them for that. I thank Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in particular, for the work he has done abroad in engaging with Irish communities. Repeated affirmation by Members of this Parliament of the work done by the diaspora in strengthening Irish communities worldwide is critical in allowing it to draw the conclusion that we care about its welfare and future.

A number of themes emerged in all the contributions. I will address them quickly. All the Members spoke about insurance. It is critical. I met Insurance Ireland twice since being appointed. The protocol is now in place. It is being implemented with wonderful enthusiasm by some insurance companies, with fairly muted enthusiasm by others, and not at all by others. Indecon, in doing its research in preparation for the publication of the report, contracted an insurance broker to contact every major motor insurance company in the country to determine how enthusiastically and effectively it was applying the new protocol. The broker got very varied responses, from "very effectively" to "not at all".

A recommendation in the report is that the protocol be applied consistently across the whole sector. I will write to each insurance company in the very near future to determine how each is implementing it, and I will publish the responses. Therefore, it will be more than apparent to each person contemplating returning to Ireland or who has returned recently which insurance companies are enthusiastically supporting their return and offering fair and competitive quotes.

On the issue of bank accounts, I met representatives of the Irish Banking Federation. The newly constituted information that we have made available on our Department's website shows that one can now open an Irish bank account from abroad using an online service. The information on how to do so is on the website. It links through to the various banks that offer the opportunity.

Many Members spoke about driving licences. In this regard, let us consider the most recent driving licence exchange agreements with Canada. In the recent past, much of our emigration was to Canada. The significant number of people returning are the ones most affected by not having an exchange opportunity. That is why the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Road Safety Authority, RSA, have been working hard to establish licence exchange agreements, particularly with Canada. The challenge in extending licence exchange agreements to other countries is that, because Ireland is a member of the European Union, it must, in establishing a licence exchange agreement with a new country, ensure all its EU partners are equally happy for it to be in place. Once a person from another country can secure an Irish licence, he or she can also secure a French, German or Italian licence, and so on. That is why these licence exchange agreements are exceptionally complex and difficult to put in place. That is not to say the work should not be ongoing. One of the recommendations of the report is that there should be significant additional impetus behind the new licence exchange agreements. I am confident that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the RSA will respond accordingly.

Reference was made to health insurance. Deputy Darragh O'Brien spoke earlier about the need for the provisions of the new Health (Amendment) Act to be put in place. I am told the statutory instrument is currently being drafted and will be in place very shortly so people will not experience a hiatus on returning to Ireland during which they can secure no health insurance cover whatsoever.

A challenge Deputy Darragh O'Brien mentioned concerned how we ensure new generations of the Irish diaspora abroad, particularly in the United States, can be engaged with effectively so they continue to feel a sense of Irishness. As one moves from generation to generation, there is a very real danger that the sense of Irishness will be diluted.

I visited Philadelphia recently and was really delighted to be involved in the launch of the first ever Foróige club in the United States. It was in an Irish community centre in Philadelphia that has long been in existence and that has really served the local community in the city very well. Mr. Seán Campbell and the team in Foróige have been working assiduously over recent months to establish the club, with the intention of establishing many more. When listening to the people who had come together to establish the club — young people in their early to late teens — it was interesting to learn that many of them, despite their being members of the Irish community in Philadelphia, had not met one another before. Therefore, their coming together under the auspices of an Irish-based youth organisation that will significantly enhance their ability to become community leaders was a very valuable opportunity for them. We hope to work with Foróige on developing new Foróige club opportunities across the whole Irish community worldwide.

Deputy Crowe raised the driving theory test and the reduction in the number of lessons from 12 to six. That is already in place and it will be made real in about two or three weeks' time. The recommendation from the Indecon report is that we go further again so anybody who held an Irish driving licence in the past will be able to return, do the theory test and proceed straight to the driving test. There is an EU requirement that one must do the driving test and there is no way around that but there would be no lessons whatsoever required for the theory and driving tests. The report also suggests that if one has not held an Irish driving licence but has significant safe driving experience elsewhere, one need do only two of the mandatory 12 lessons along with the theory and driving tests. We will engage with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on this matter in the coming months.

It is critical to point out that the publication of this report is not the end of a process but the beginning. For the past two years, we have had an interdepartmental committee in place involving all the Departments that can effect the desired changes. The 30 recommendations serve as the impetus for the committee. The committee has already received a copy of the report and I will ask it to respond with the actions it will now take to deliver on the recommendations. We will have three months in which to deliver on the actions. At the end of the three months, I will present a report to the Government on the successes of those actions. I hope that at the end of the three-month period, we will have seen significant developments in eliminating all the barriers. That is what we should be doing. There is no question but that it is the right thing to do.

The 500 people who are returning every week have a great deal to offer in terms of their skill sets and the experience they have garnered working in so many business environments internationally. Bringing these skills back to Ireland is invaluable to us as a people. We want to make returning emigrants feel welcome. This report and the recommendations therein are the beginning of that process. My colleagues and I in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will not rest until the vast majority, if not all, of the barriers are removed for good.

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