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

I thank the Senators for their excellent contributions. It was obvious to me that they share my values in how we engage with and support our diaspora communities world wide. I will respond to each individual contribution in turn and respond as best I can.

I agree wholeheartedly with Senator Ned O'Sullivan who described the opportunity to extend the presidential vote to our people worldwide as a meaningful and concrete way of showing our support for our diaspora. It is more than fitting that the person who best embodies who we are as a people, our first citizen, our President, should be chosen by all members of citizenship around the world. I was particularly heartened to hear every single Senator committing to be actively involved in the referendum campaign that will take place at the end of October. The Senator also suggested that we need to adopt a cross-departmental approach in respect of our returning emigrants and tackling the challenges they face. That process has been under way for two years through the work of an interdepartmental committee which has representation from every Department and which seeks to minimise, to the greatest extent possible, the obstacles being faced by our returning emigrants.

Senator Ned O'Sullivan and many others referred to the undocumented. Our objectives in this regard remain constant. In that context, we aim to achieve relief for the undocumented and facilitate greater pathways for legal migration to the United States. However, none of us underestimates the size of that challenge. We know it is a policy area that has been very divisive in the US political system for decades, with pronounced disagreements, sometimes in the same political party, on the best way to deal with an issue that affects not only the Irish undocumented but also over 11 million people across the US. The Government, our special envoy, Deputy John Deasy, and our ambassador in Washington, Dan Mulhall, have consistently engaged with both parties in a bipartisan way to address our long-standing concerns. This continues to be our best approach and will remain our approach. Our embassy in Washington and six consulates across the US work continuously and tirelessly with Irish emigration centres in order to provide vital services to the undocumented. Last month, I visited the Irish Pastoral Centre in Boston to hear directly from those who work on a daily basis supporting our undocumented. The Government remains wholly committed to working with the US authorities to resolve the plight of the undocumented, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Senator Richmond pointed out the great benefits of St. Patrick's Day as a celebration of Irish identity and culture across the world. It presents a huge opportunity for Ireland to connect with our people worldwide and allows Ireland to significantly expand its sphere of influence, whether in business, culture or other facets of society worldwide.

Senator Ó Donnghaile observed that we need to look out for the welfare of our diaspora in Britain, particularly in the context of Brexit. Last week, when I spoke in the Dáil on the issue of Brexit during the debate on the legislation going through the Houses, I made the point that we remain absolutely supportive of our Irish community in Britain and will continue to support them after Brexit. Britain has been one of the most important destinations for Irish emigration for centuries which is reflected in our emigrant support programme expenditure in Britain in 2018, when over €5.9 million was awarded to 108 organisations across Britain, 88% of which - almost €5 million - was devoted to welfare support. As many established Irish communities in Britain are ageing, the welfare provided under the emigrant support programme is becoming more important. The community organisations do extraordinary work and offer a vital lifeline to disadvantaged emigrants, facilitating their access to local services and combating what is increasingly a problem of social isolation and alienation. Senator Ó Donnghaile spoke very eloquently and passionately about the need to ensure we succeed in winning that referendum in October. Senator Conway-Walsh also referred to the Indecon report and asked whether there is an ongoing dashboard of results. The answer to her question is yes. Of the 30 recommendations in that report, 19 have been fully addressed, six are under consideration and we are bringing a report to Government on progress on that in the coming weeks. That report will be available to Senators in the House.

The main issues addressed in the Indecon report were around driving licences and thankfully we have been working with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on the cases of individuals now returning to Ireland from a country that does not have a driving licence exchange agreement with Ireland. Previously one needed to begin the whole process of having to do 12 driving lessons before one could get a licence. In conjunction with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, we have now reduced that to six lessons. On the issue of car insurance, we have been actively engaging through the Department of Finance with car insurance companies and a protocol has been put in place where if one returns to Ireland from a far flung destination with documentary evidence of a safe driving record and of a no claims relationship with the insurance company in that country, the vast majority of Irish car insurance companies are now accepting that documentation as evidence of a safe driving record and the list of companies that are accepting that are available on the Department's website.

Senator Conway-Walsh also raised the question of young farmers' access to the national reserve. There is no discrimination whatsoever applying to returning emigrants in that context. All applicants, be they returning emigrants or people who have been living in the country, are treated equally. I am informed by colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that a number of returning emigrants have gained access to these supports.

Senator O'Mahony spoke about the undocumented and he also spoke quite rightly about the extraordinary contribution of the GAA to community building across all Irish communities in the world. I officially opened the Asian Games in Bangkok and 1,000 players, supporters and mentors, representative of the 400 GAA clubs, gathered from all over Asia in Bangkok to celebrate our national games and partake in a whole series of championships during that weekend. We also have a very strong relationship between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the GAA in terms of funding capital investment in GAA facilities worldwide and we recently announced a very significant investment in McGovern Park in Ruislip in London in collaboration with Croke Park to see that facility being finished to a very high standard.

Senator Bacik quite rightly commended the role of Senator Billy Lawless, who has been a powerful advocate in the Seanad for our diaspora community worldwide. She cited the importance of the referendum in terms of that sense of community building, making the point that it is more than appropriate that all of our citizens worldwide would have the opportunity to chose our first citizen, quite rightly pointing out that we already have members of our diaspora who have a role in deciding the members of this House. Senator Bacik also mentioned an exhibition that is currently touring some of our embassies and missions worldwide, originating in EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum, and outlining the extraordinary contribution made by women members of our diaspora. That exhibition and research work arose as a result of the global Irish unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funding an in-house historian in EPIC, who has researched all of that and will continue to research the contribution of members of our diaspora in other contexts as well. I hope we will have similarly powerful exhibitions in the future.

I thank every Member for their excellent contributions. There is no question but that there is an absolute consensus in this House as to how we continue: we should continue to work with our diaspora communities worldwide, we should continue to invest significantly in them and we should work collectively to ensure the success of the referendum in October.

Senator O'Sullivan spoke about the power of technology in connecting people worldwide. There is no question but that in the next two or three decades as that technology becomes evermore ubiquitous and ever more powerful, the opportunity for communities of shared interest across the world to congregate and convene online, support one another, engage and nurture one another, the opportunity to connect our 70 million Irish people all over the world will become every more powerful. We need to work hard collectively to support that community and to continue investing in that community because it is an extraordinary opportunity to build something really effective and powerful that will be as meaningful for a member of our diaspora living on a Pacific island, in London or Los Angeles who will feel part of something greater than themselves and something that is of immense benefit to them, their family and to their community.