Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. From the outset, I did not say this in my opening because the Cathaoirleach was not present, I wish to make a personal commendation and pay credit to the Cathaoirleach as a person, as a Senator, as a Cathaoirleach and, indeed, previously as a Leas-Chathaoirleach for his work in this area, albeit not just in terms of developing initial strategies and his spokesmanship. Many of us perhaps do not see this but I have had the pleasure of travelling abroad with him and engaging with him on the issue of the Irish in America in particular. The work he does, often unseen and for little reward and with no obvious political gain, is really important work. It is an example to not just me in my new role as Minister of State with responsibility for this area, as every Member of the Oireachtas has a part to play in this. I thank the Cathaoirleach very much and wish him the very best for his upcoming trip to the United States. It is really important that we see him in the United States for St. Patrick's Day using his own personal network and the political network on behalf of our nation. In that, I am truly grateful.

Quite a number of points have been raised and I will try to address them as well as possible. Some replies might not be as substantive as some Senators would like in the ten minutes available to me, but I am more than happy to pick up thereafter. I will then make a couple of brief concluding comments. Senator Joe O'Reilly referred to access to insurance. One of the last things I was lucky enough to be privy to in my role as Minister of State with responsibility for insurance at the Department of Finance was the entry into the Irish market of Fastnet Underwriting, an insurance company that specialises in quoting for returning Irish emigrants and new arrivals from other jurisdictions who perhaps do not have the record or proverbial no claims bonus. It quotes at market rates and it is a great entry.

Senator Conor Murphy referred to the perception of a one-stop shop. That exists. It is already on the Citizens Information website and it is important.

Senator P.J. Murphy referred to the interesting case of the largest non-English speaking Irish diaspora in the world, which is in Argentina. I would say who we can count among them, but I do not want to get too political by referencing certain individuals. As a good example, however, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, will travel next week to Argentina and there will be a discussion that is worth looking at.

We have benefited greatly - I will touch on migration more generally in a second - from the 55,000 Brazilians who have come to Ireland. Many of them have come through the relationship Brazil has with Portugal, which is clear, obvious and warm. The Senator might be on to something. During my time as Minister of State with responsibility for employment and labour market activation, I sought to bring new talent here. I had the misfortune of playing a rugby match once against the UCD veterinary hospital and I wondered why I was ended up so black and blue. Its entire pack was from Argentina. I still have the scars to show.

More seriously, Senator Kennelly and others, including Senator Daly - this is an area he and I worked on with Senator Black in a previous Seanad - raised the possibility of providing a legal pathway for the undocumented in the US and being a constant voice on their behalf in order that they do not feel voiceless. I have been in Irish centres and public houses in places such as Yonkers and south Chicago and spoken to people who are in despair because they missed family funerals and were never able to say goodbye. They walk out their front doors every day fearful about who might come up behind them. This is a group that our emigrant support programmes support carefully and specifically, and the matter should be at the front of any conversation held by Irish delegations travelling to the United States next week.

More broadly, within the emigrant support programme, a couple of areas were raised that are important to reference. Senator Joe O'Reilly spoke about the plight of survivors of institutional abuse, many of whom live in Great Britain. Senator Craughwell spoke about emigrants from Ireland who lived hard lives and referred to the not unkind or unrealistic caricature of the navvy who went to work building roads and on building sites. I have had an insight into the survivors of institutional abuse, such as those who found themselves in the laundries. For many reasons, those people could not remain here and had to find a new life in Great Britain. They lived the hardest of lives, physically and emotionally. Many are now at a stage where they are getting older and have serious health complaints, largely brought about by their previous experiences. More than 40% of our survivors live in England alone. They are not the success stories. They do not live in wealth or prosperity, but they are the group we specifically support through the emigrant support programme. It is important that we continue to talk about them.

Senator Cosgrove referred to Safe Home Ireland, which is funded by the emigrant support programme. It is a key partner. It will continue to receive funding. I am absolutely happy to continue to work with it. The people the Senator described are not too different from those Senator Craughwell and, equally, Senator Flaherty spoke about. The tragic situations in which the Irish abroad come together in the toughest times to support the family, often those who are alone in experiencing tragedy many miles from home, were mentioned. I will not volunteer to go to Ruislip with Senator Scahill. He certainly does not want to see me on a football pitch.

Senator Conway raised the issue of the foreign births register. For context, its turnaround time has gone from approximately five years during the Covid-19 pandemic to eight or nine months. That is impactful. The situation he referred to relates to accessing documents from our colleagues in the British Government. I am more than happy to take that up with their ambassador or my counterpart.

Senator Scahill also raised the important topic of our new diaspora strategy. For the information of the House, the current strategy will expire at the end of this calendar year. We will launch a new one in April. This is the consultation we have started already. I hope we will be able to bring all Oireachtas Members into that discussion, and the online portal will be available for it.

Votes abroad, generally and more specifically the references to the planned and promised referendum on foot of the constitutional convention referred to by Senators Andrews, Murphy, Harmon, Black and Cosgrove, are important. This is a debate that will happen in due course. It is already happening. We have to separate what is planned and what is possible. Some countries offer general votes abroad for specific seats for the members for the diasporas, be it in respect of the French or Italian senates or American citizens who can vote abroad because they still pay taxes in that country. One of the more striking communities in Ireland we see voting in large numbers are Moldovan nationals. There are more than 30,000 Moldovans resident here. That is out of a population of more than 1 million. The commitment was made and the delays are quite obvious. There have been delays with quite a number of referendums that were promised. Ultimately, the pandemic knocked the timelines for everything backwards. We were able to hold two referendums in the lifetime of the previous Government, both of which were defeated. I was all set to be the director of elections for the referendum on the Unified Patent Court, which will excite hearts and minds across the jurisdiction, I have no doubt, but, unfortunately, it fell victim to the legislative backlog.

We are reflecting on how to run the referendum relating to the matter in question. One thing that is crucial with referendums - Senator Black will be sick of hearing me say this in many different contexts - is that we do not hold them for the sake of holding them. If you believe in the issue, you need to hold a referendum on it and be in a position to win. That is the political decision that needs to be taken by all of us, but especially the Government of the day. That is the decision we need to make. I will continue to be open to working with the Senators and to discuss the matter more widely.

I think Senator Harmon and I are roughly the same age. She may be a few years younger than me. She is definitely a heck of a lot more youthful and energetic. It was striking when she spoke about our generation at the time of the crash who left in desperation. They went to London, or more often to Canada and Australia because those countries were not touched by the financial crash in the same way as many other jurisdictions were. Let us be frank. This is the elephant in the room. Getting into America is much harder, not only today but also for the past 20 years, than it was perhaps for the generations who went before. We are in a clear position that many of that generation have come home. I am of the age and have been delighted that many of my friends have been able to come home. They have brought their partners and spouses and have been here to care for elderly parents. Some have been able to raise families here. They brought back the skills they picked up abroad. That should be the case for everyone who wants to come home. This is the crux of the matter. That is the situation I want to have at the end of these few years.

Senator Craughwell painted a vivid depressing picture of the type of Ireland many people left in the past. Senator Harmon touched on the Famine, which is a deeper generational institutional experience we perhaps need to discuss. I spent the weekend with my 84-year-old uncle in England. He left Ireland straight after school never intending to come back. He has not come back. He married a fellow immigrant to England. They have lived their lives there, with no chance of ever coming home. That will not always be the way. I do not believe people are going to Australia for better jobs. The jobs are here, but we have societal issues we need to address. I will not hide from that.

I will use every opportunity to make the following important point. We are a migrant people. We have experience of emigration. In the past decade or two, we have started to experience the absolute wonder that immigration brings to our country. When we frame our domestic policies on inward migration, whether they relate to people seeking asylum, other forms of refuge or better professional lives or people coming for love or family or to study, we must use our shared experience to make sure that the Ireland we have today is open, welcoming, tolerant and allows those who want to come here to feel they are part of every aspect.I thank all the Senators for their contribution. I look forward to engaging with all of them in the coming months and years. They can rest assured that in the time that I hold this office, I will be absolutely committed to developing a new diaspora strategy that is fit for purpose and reflective of the wishes of the people of Ireland, both home and abroad.