Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is how I figure things out. We can work together. We can take the education information from today’s debate and put it on the table of the Higher Education Authority and the Minister for Education and Skills, given the education deficit issue in the third-level sector. I do not mean to be crude about it, but it is also an opportunity for funding. Let us consider that space. I would be willing to take up the matter.

A number of Senators mentioned barriers for returning emigrants. The interdepartmental group, which I chair, is not a group of politicians, but of officials from various Departments. We have met twice and are due to meet again in a number of weeks’ time. I have tasked my officials with examining the effectiveness of the interdepartmental group.Ultimately, it is the man with his head above the parapet who will get his wings clipped. I am chairperson of that. Ultimately, it is the individual Departments that have responsibility, whether for driver licences or issues such as farming, which the Senator mentioned. My job is to keep the pressure on each Department to try to help them make the change. I am open to suggestions and ideas about making it more effective. I have also written to each of the Ministers in the various Departments to ask that when they send their officials to these meetings, they address these issues. Let us look at a roadmap for each of the issues and see how we can follow through and keep it on the agenda. Senators are aware, through their own offices, that there are many issues facing the diaspora such as homelessness, which will be the responsibility of the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. If Senators have ideas about making the interdepartmental connection more effective, I am open to them.

I had a conversation recently with a couple who returned from Australia after 16 years. One of the things they mentioned was expectations. It was one word. Emigrants have expectations but having spent so much time away, when they come back home things have changed. Their world, community and family have changed and people have moved on and are in a different space. Their biggest barrier was dealing with their expectation of the type of Ireland they thought was there. There are issues such as that.

The biggest barrier for returning emigrants in the past six to seven years was jobs. The biggest barrier was that there were no jobs. Our specific commitment in 2012, under Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore, was that before the end of 2016 we would have 100,000 extra jobs. That has been eclipsed. Senators will have heard the figures because it was talked about in this Chamber. It is gone to 200,000. There are jobs but there are also barriers and I want to work with Senators on that issue. I will not bluff and say we will eliminate all the barriers but we can work towards a mechanism to keep them live on the agenda. We can look at this House as a watchdog, for want of a better word, for the progress being made. I am happy to do that.

Senator Joe O'Reilly spoke about an all-out diplomatic assault regarding the undocumented. That is happening and it will continue to happen. The Senator also talked about the reasons for going. It promotes business and tourism. The Senator also mentioned the overseas missions. The role our missions play internationally is evolving. I spent two days in London with Dan Mulhall and his team. The ambassador's role does not conform to my specific stereotype of an ambassador's role. Dan Mulhall has made presentations on Brexit to the House of Lords. He is meeting with the construction federation and civic society and community groups. He and his team are out there with their sleeves rolled up. There are people like that in missions all over the world. There are people like Philip Grant in the consulate in San Francisco. We all know the way he dealt with the Berkeley tragedy because it was such a public issue. Their human investment in all these different consulates around the world has to be acknowledged.

The Senator spoke about organising a second Gathering. I will certainly pass on those sentiments and suggestions. The Senator talked about skills shortages. There are a lot of skill shortages in the labour sector in this city. That is something we can do a bit better and use our embassies. In my local hospital in Letterkenny there are advertised positions that cannot be filled. It is the same in Galway and Dublin. Can we do things differently and focus more on sectors, for example science and agriculture, and let people know there are jobs back home?

I raised the interdepartmental issue. Táim a fhios agam faoi na deacrachtaí atá ag daoine teacht abhaile agus teacht ar ais. Táim cinnte fá dtaobh de sin. Tá mé anseo agus tá mo cheann oscailte go dtí aon bhealach gur féidir linn a bheith ag obair le chéile. Tá an caidreamh idir an Seanad agus an Dáil thar a bheith tábhachtach agus tá sé idir na hoifigigh agus na hAirí sinsearacha bheith freagrach as na míbhuntáistí atá ann do na daoine atá ag teacht ar ais abhaile. Gabhaim buíochas le na daoine a oibríonn ar son na daoine atá ag iarraidh teacht abhaile. Tá dreamanna ag obair le chéile ar son na daoine atá ag teacht abhaile nó atá ag smaoineamh ar theacht abhaile. Níl an bhealach socraithe faoi láthair fá dtaobh den dream idir-Ranna. Tá mé thar a bheith oscailte d'aon bhealach ar a smaoiníonn Seanadóirí fá dtaobh de sin. Tá mé anseo le haghaidh sin.

The Senator also mentioned the issue of driver licences which has been raised by Deputy Noel Grealish and my colleague, Deputy Tony McLoughlin. They raised it at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence. Driver licences are an issue that has been identified as seriously important for the undocumented. They need to come back home to renew their licence because it is their only form of identification. I spoke to Deputy Grealish last night and he is going to formally ask the committee to come and meet with me and my officials. We will try to do something on that and we will keep the Seanad posted.

Canadian issues with driver licences was raised. The Senator said there are no plans to address these strategies and I take exception to that. While we do not have a magic formula for each of these individual issues, we have to look at the type of mechanism that is not working. The Senator has identified there are weaknesses so if there are weaknesses we have to try to do it differently. I have raised these issues with officials at meetings. We had representations and a presentation from organisations such as Crosscare and Safe Home and they have identified the issues. They are groups we can work closely with.

Voting rights were mentioned. When I came into this job last May, I went straight out and said I was supportive of voting rights. I did that with the backing of the Taoiseach. It is not just because of his imprimatur, it is something I genuinely feel strongly about. My Department is not responsible for putting this report together. It is the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. Is that report being looked at? It is not just being looked at, it is being put together. I have asked for an options paper to be ready for Government as soon as possible. That is going ahead. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is very supportive of this idea so there is the political will from Deputy Coveney and the Taoiseach on the issue.