Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. I congratulate him and wish him well with this portfolio, which absolutely suits him very well in terms of the experience he has gained and the wisdom that he will bring to the role.

It is really important that we are having this debate in the week prior to St. Patrick's Day when practically all of our Ministers will be travelling abroad as ambassadors and representing Ireland on a very important day. So few countries in the world have this opportunity, and we are absolutely right to make the most of it with regard to the contacts we have and strong messages we need to bring to countries abroad and to bring their messages back.

When I think of the diaspora, I also think of the Kildare diaspora and some of the twinning groups we established in the county. that was all done on the foot of the work of people who have emigrated from Ireland. In Newbridge, we have one of the most successful town twinning programmes in the country, which is with Bad Lippspringe in Germany. That was started over 30 years ago by Eddie Lee and his sister Teresa Wall, who are both from rural Athy. Eddie now lives in Bad Lippspringe and is happily married to a German lady. They have a family together. As a result of that, we have had so many incredible connections, from football teams to different cultural groups that have had the opportunity to travel and to receive groups here. A soccer group is coming over for St. Patrick's weekend. Another group will be going out to Germany in June.I also think of Bruce Springsteen, whose family hails from my own town of Rathangan. His great grandmother, Ann Geraghty, was born in Rathangan in 1838, and we are now in the process of establishing a formal twinning arrangement with Freehold in New Jersey. The Mayor of Freehold and Bruce's first cousin Glen were here last July. We had a really interesting few days with them. It is really important that we celebrate our diaspora.

County Kildare is twinned with Lexington in Kentucky through the horse industry. That was started by the late, great Michael Osborne, a terrific ambassador for Ireland. He started that twinning 45 years ago, having spent some years on a stud in Kentucky. Indeed, on the very first formal twinning group, my father was Cathaoirleach of Kildare County Council and had the opportunity to go and represent Kildare, together with two of his cousins, Joe and John O'Loughlin. Thirty years later, I had the opportunity as Mayor of Kildare to go and celebrate the 30th anniversary of the twinning. That was just after my father passed away, so it was a very special occasion. Those linkages bring about great business opportunities, and there is nothing like people-to-people meetings for sharing experiences, culture and heritage and developing trade links. In the same year, I also had the opportunity as Mayor of Kildare to travel to New York to lead the Kildare delegation in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Meeting people - first, second and third generation - who hailed from Kildare was a very humbling experience. I know it is the same for every single county, but I was impressed by how much people wanted to reminisce and to stay connected with everything going on at home. The GAA has done an incredible job in that regard in terms of developing and supporting overseas teams, particularly those in the US, England and Australia. That is something that we certainly need to support and develop further.

The Minister referred to where he will be going next week. He is travelling to Tanzania, and I hope he has a very successful trip. I had the opportunity to visit Tanzania with a view to helping to support and develop Special Olympics there. There is an absolutely terrific programme in Tanzania. Irish Aid funded a project over three years to develop Special Olympics in Tanzania, Uganda and, at a later stage, Malawi. That was money very well spent. It was not a huge amount - in the region of €70,000 - but it really helped to support children, young adults and the families of people with intellectual disabilities. Unfortunately, there is still a real stigma in Africa about having a family member with an intellectual disability. I remember Tim Shriver, during a talk I attended, producing a small rope that had been used by a family in a small community in Tanzania. They had tied their son with an intellectual disability to a post in order that he would not wander. It is shocking to think that in this day and age such a thing would happen. This young man was found, through Special Olympics, and given the opportunity to learn and develop. In those programmes, with the help of Irish Aid, seed money was given to support young people with intellectual disability, through the healthy athletes programme, to grow fruit and vegetables for cooking and for selling on, so there was an economic value as well. Irish Aid does incredible work around the world. Given that the Minister of State is going to Tanzania, I wanted to share that story.

We must also think about all of our embassy staff around the world. During my time as head of delegation for the Council of Europe, and particularly during the Irish Presidency, I had the opportunity, together with my colleague Senator O'Reilly, to meet many of the excellent embassy staff we have around the world. They are an absolute credit to our nation. The work they do goes largely unseen but it is very important. It is even more important now in the context of the diplomatic efforts that have to be made around the world in relation to the development of peace and our ability to negotiate and deal with other countries in what are very difficult times.

We also have to think of our emigrants who are vulnerable. I refer to those who emigrated from our shores and found themselves vulnerable and in difficult economic situations. It is really important that we use the funds at the Department's disposal to help them and to continue to develop links with them. I also want to mention the undocumented in America. I know the Taoiseach will have an opportunity, as will the other eight Ministers who are travelling to the US, to speak on their behalf. That is a really important role in terms of trying to find a legal pathway for the undocumented and their families so that they

will be able to come home and go back.

We all know of so many individuals who have not been able to come home for the funerals of their parents, siblings or other family members because they are not legal in the US and are afraid to travel. These people have their own children in the US and who have developed a life for themselves, both economically and socially. It is so important that we continue our efforts in what is a volatile environment at the moment. Diplomacy is absolutely the way forward. I wish the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and all of the Ministers who are going to the US well. It is a difficult time. The eyes of the world are on Ireland, particularly after what we saw last week. We have seen some progress since then. It has been really good to see what has been happening in the UK, and I know the Taoiseach is travelling over there this evening. We certainly want to see a proper negotiated pathway for Ukraine. We want to see a ceasefire and the support that has been shown across Europe to continue. I wish all of our Ministers well as they go abroad. I also wish the Minister of State well and hope for continued success for all of our ambassadors across the globe.