Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I am thankful for the opportunity to raise this issue. Coventry was once the most Irish city in England and in the early 1960s, there were 20,000 Irish-born people living in Coventry. The industries there attracted Irish people who worked in factories, on the buses and in hospitals. They built the ring road, housing estates and the new cathedral. The Irish community flourished. People came together in clubs, trade unions, voluntary organisations and in their churches. They represented their people and others on the city council and went to areas such as Spon End, Coundon, Radford, Jordan and Gosford Street.

In the 1950s, for example, 650 Irish people used to attend the Banba Club on an average Saturday night. Others went to church clubs or to pubs such as St. Brendan's or the Kerryman, the Bricklayers Arms, the Hand and Heart, or the Four Provinces. As a whole, the Irish in Britain returned €3 billion in remittances between 1939 and 1969 to families who were left behind when they were forced to emigrate from here.

Their stories were celebrated by Tom Murphy in one of his plays and by John B. Keane. It produced artists such as Hazel O'Connor and Julianne Regan. Nowadays, the 1950s generation are ageing but their legacy remains. The Coventry Irish Centre performs outstanding work for their community out of Eaton House, which is near the railway station. Great credit is due to people such as Simon McCarthy, Caroline Brogan, Gráinne Fellowes, Liz Flannelly, Manisha O'Malley and Margaret Campbell. They help approximately 1,000 people per year by befriending, health outreach, with welfare advice and with their passports.

As the Minister of State is probably aware, the emigrant support scheme assists with the courses and funds the Coventry Irish Centre but does not help to secure any long-term premises or a secure home. The Coventry Irish Centre has had to move five times during the past ten years. The Coventry Irish Centre is one of three Irish survivor specialist services in England. It meets survivors who by now have a long-term and positive connection with the charity. They gain mutual support by being part of a group with a unique history and experience and who were wronged by this State. In Coventry, they help survivors from all over the midlands. There are two other English-based survivor services. One operates from the London Irish Centre, Camden Square, London, and the other is Irish Community Care and it deals with people in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. Those two centres have their own private offices where they meet with survivors and host social events. They help them with housing and other issues.

The Coventry Irish Centre does not have any secure or long-term premises. Like the other centres, it helps survivors to apply for the mother and baby home scheme, the Magdalen laundries scheme, and offer social supports and networks such as outings and lunch clubs, which are vital for people and for those survivors, in particular. We owe the Irish people in Britain more than this and the temporary accommodation the Coventry Irish Centre has. I ask the Government to consider additional support for the midlands Irish survivors service, which have helped more than 500 survivors in total and to consider funding a long-term premises where they can meet in private and are not mixed with everyone else. They need extra attention and care. I am asking at a time when there is an awful lot of money in this country that we give something back to those communities and to those Irish people in Britain who need it most.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I’m answering on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond. I am fully committed, as is the Department, to strengthening the bonds with all Irish communities overseas. Central to this work is the emigrant support programme, managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Since its inception in 2004, the programme has provided funding of over €250 million to 900 organisations in 51 countries. Supporting the most vulnerable and marginalised Irish emigrants across the world is at the heart of this programme. In 2025, almost €16,500,000 will be granted in support of strengthening ties with the diaspora and our communities overseas. Britain is our close neighbour and home to the largest Irish-born community outside Ireland.

The 2021 census documents just over 500,000 people born on the island of Ireland living in England and Wales, with around 200,000 of those born in Northern Ireland.

The Government has provided financial support to Irish community organisations in Britain since 1984. Last year, we allocated ESP funding of over €7.8 million to 112 organisations in Britain in respect of 202 projects. This represented just under half of the total ESP budget. We funded a range of projects from large welfare support in cities with traditionally large Irish communities such as London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham to smaller events and cultural and heritage projects in places such as Bristol, Nottingham and York.

Our engagement in Britain goes beyond financial support. Every year the embassy serves as a community hub, hosting events in collaboration with organisations which might not have the budget, space or networking connections to host alone. This includes supporting Irish artists but also hosting traditionally excluded and marginalised groups such as events for Pride and an annual St. Brigid’s Day event celebrating Irish women in Britain.

Applications for the 2025-26 emigrant support programme are now being assessed and details on the grants will be made available over the coming months. Full details of all ESP funding to date in Britain can be found on the www.ireland.iewebsite.

An important part of Ireland’s diaspora strategy is a commitment to heal the relationship with those who left Ireland in crisis and survivors of institutional abuse. Britain is home to the largest number of victims of institutional abuse, outside Ireland. It is estimated that 30% of all survivors live in Britain. The emigrant support programme provides funding to community organisations in Britain supporting survivors in Britain such as ICAP, the London Irish Centre, Coventry Irish Society and Fréa in the north of England. We fund eight full-time posts and two part-time posts to ensure dedicated support is provided to the survivor community. We are working with relevant UK Government departments to ensure access to compensation schemes does not negatively affect other welfare supports.

The Government is fully committed to delivering sustained investment in all our communities abroad, particularly in Britain. As we look to the future, we will ensure that we continue to prioritise projects that support a dynamic and diverse diaspora and address the needs of the most vulnerable.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. The support that is provided in the scheme, which is administered by the Department of foreign affairs is very much appreciated. It is appreciated by the clients, the survivors and elderly Irish people from all over the midlands and also by the staff who help them with their needs.

However, the policy within Government is that the Government does not support either capital funding or long- or even medium-term premises. The difficulty with providing these services is that they need to be secure and need in the same place for a protracted time. Eaton House is in a very good location but the Coventry Irish Society has no security of tenure in that building, which is due for demolition at some stage. Its lease is up in May and it is hoping to get another three-year lease. However, as I already mentioned it has moved five times in the past ten years, which is not really satisfactory. Something extra should be given to this community on a once-off basis given the amount of work it does with the older Irish community in general and given the amount of work that it does in helping the survivors - as the Minister of State has noted, 30% of survivors of institutional abuse live in Britain.

The other ones in Yorkshire, Lancashire and London have appropriate premises, but the Coventry centre does not. I am asking the Government to look at this and provide some sort of medium-term help on a once-off basis with leasehold or to allow the society to purchase a building so it can provide the best of care which is what is owed to the people who use the services.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his advocacy in this area. Any time we get a chance to talk about the diaspora in this Chamber is welcome. We can see the value of sustained investment in our communities abroad. I had the opportunity to visit Thailand and the Philippines where I saw at first hand how our diaspora engage in their local communities and the value that they add in those countries, as well as bringing our sporting, cultural and heritage traditions to those areas. The Government will continue to support those endeavours because we see the value in it.

The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is also committed to reducing the barriers for returning emigrants to Ireland and there is funding in that respect from the Department of foreign affairs. The returning-to-Ireland portal on the citizens information website is very useful. I take on board the points the Deputy has raised. I will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, on the specifics of the issue. It is important to re-emphasise the value of the programme that is in place through the significant and sustained investment the Government has made. I reiterate that the 2025-26 applications under that will be notified in the period ahead.