John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I question the figures given by Senator Mary White. The level of emigration was down by 20% last year. To say 1,600 people are leaving the country weekly gives the very wrong impression. At least half of that figure is accounted for by the normal population flows one would expect in a given year. The number of Irish people leaving the country, while appallingly high, is not 89,000 but approximately 40,000. The figures given by Senator Mary White give a very misleading impression.