Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is most welcome to the House.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter. I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming here to directly deal with this issue.

My Commencement matter addresses the need for the Minister to make a statement on the Irish emigrant support programme, ESP, in the United Kingdom and the ongoing funding opportunities. I spent a week in London, including St. Patrick's weekend, as did many Members of the Seanad and the Dáil as part of a delegation led by Deputy Feighan. I wish to thank him for that ongoing work and building of that important, mature, new, emerging relationship between the islands. It is extremely important that should continue. I believe in the term "soft power". Relationships are very important. As we meet across the various jurisdictions, it is important that we develop. "You win their hearts, you win their minds" is an old expression and I firmly believe that. For those who were in Westminster and in other parts of these islands last week, anything that cements relationships has to be positive.

The work the Irish centre is doing is excellent. I wish to acknowledge our ambassador, Martin Fraser and his team in London. They do an exceptional job. They too joined us in Westminster and engaged in the dialogue, conversation and the social aspects of that visit. Much was learned and a greater depth of understanding between us was teased out and developed.

I wish to touch on the issue of the emigrant support programme because while we celebrate the great diversity of Ireland and our heritage, we also know that many Irish people in the forties, fifties, sixties and seventies left this island through no choice of their own. It may have been social stigma. There were many young pregnant women who left with a promise that they could come back but they were never welcomed back. I met some of those women last week and there are sad stories. I sat on the tube the other day in London between Richmond and Westminster and there was an advertisement on the train encouraging people to engage with the mother and baby redress scheme, which is positive. I do not see those advertisements on buses, trains or DARTs here. There is an awareness. However, there is not a big enough awareness. It is important that we reach out to many of our citizens, who are trapped in the other parts of the word. I do not have time to talk about America and other places and the undocumented, but we know there are many undocumented Irish struggling in Birmingham, Manchester, London and other parts of the UK.

I am greatly encouraged by the positive work that is happening but it is important that we continue to build on that network and continue to support our people. They are our people; they are of us; they are our relations; they are our family; and they are steeped in their sense of Irishness. One of the things we encounter when going to Liverpool, Birmingham and all over the place, particularly on St. Patrick's weekend, is that great sense of pride. We and they are Irish. There is a commonality and there is a humanity in all of their stories that we need to respond to.

I know the Minister of State is fully committed to this. I know of his deep work in building relationships on the islands. Can we, however, continue to develop and reach out to the London Irish Centre and the lunch clubs? There are many lunch clubs. My sister is involved in a lunch club five days per week in Falconwood, just outside London, where up to 60 people who are in their seventies and eighties come for lunch and support every day. Sometimes they need assistance navigating their social welfare payments and other issues.

It is not possible to bring them all home but it is possible to interplay with and support the agencies that support our people. That is very important. For those who are the most vulnerable and who were chased out of this country or felt that they had to leave for a better life and did not achieve that better life, we need to continue to advocate for them and tell them that we are here to support them through the established agencies that the Minister of State, his Department and the embassy work with in London. I wish to acknowledge the enormous work of our embassy in London and Martin Fraser. It is greatly encouraging what he is doing and we need more and more of that.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for tabling this timely Commencement matter. I wholeheartedly agree with every point he made. I really appreciate the passion that he brought to this discussion.

In line with our current diaspora strategy, the Government is committed to strengthening the ties between Ireland and our communities overseas and ensuring we look after the most vulnerable of our emigrants. Britain remains home to the largest Irish-born community outside Ireland. It continues to be the most popular destination for those emigrating from Ireland. The Government has provided financial support to Irish community organisations in Britain since 1984. This is co-ordinated by the Irish abroad unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, working with the Irish Embassy in London and our consulates in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester.

Our engagement today is underpinned by the emigrant support programme, which was launched in 2004. In that time, the programme has granted in excess of €250 million to 900 organisations in 51 countries. Last year, we allocated ESP funding of more than €7.8 million to 112 organisations in Britain alone in respect of 202 projects. This represented just half of the total ESP budget. In addition, Irish-based organisations such as the GAA, Safe Home and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann receive funding for their work with our community in Britain. More than 75% of the funding was allocated to front-line services for vulnerable and underrepresented groups in Britain.We supported counselling and outreach services and projects which address social isolation and actively improve the well-being of Irish people. We also invested in projects that foster a sense of community, nurture our identity and culture overseas and deepen our trade, business and education links.

Last month in England, I saw at first hand the vital work the ESP is funding when I met with community groups in London, Coventry and Birmingham. I visited lunch clubs and sat with our fellow Irish men and women and I heard and discussed their stories. Their story of emigration is in stark contrast to the story of emigration among my generation. My peers, and perhaps those younger again, had no choice. They left Ireland at a different and darker time with few skills or qualifications. Senator Craughwell referred the other week to the dreaded mailboat, which Senator Boyhan and I know well. They took that from Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead and other places. They were the navvies on the building sites and the nurses in the hospitals. They often met hardship, tough economic times and prejudice. They lived hard, tough lives but they thrived in their new homes and did not for one instant lose their sense of Irishness. We should never forget that.

In 2025, we will allocate almost €16.5 million to strengthen ties with the diaspora and communities overseas. The funding year runs from 1 July to 30 June each year. The 2025-26 ESP opened for applications on 29 January and closed on 19 February. Applications are now being assessed and details on disbursements of grants will be made available over the coming months.

The Senator referred to my next point. An important part of Ireland's diaspora strategy is a commitment to heal the relationship with those who left Ireland in crisis and survivors of institutional abuse. Britain is home to the largest numbers of victims of institutional abuse. It is estimated that 30% of all survivors live in Britain. The Senator spoke of an advertisement he heard on the tube but this is not an issue that is in the news in Britain. It has not had documentaries made about it and is perhaps not in the social consciousness we all live with every day. That is why we are advertising, why people like the ambassador, H.E. Mr. Fraser, whom the Senator rightly commends, are reaching out to those communities and why I met representatives of the survivors. We are working closely with community organisations to make sure relevant UK departments can provide people with access to compensation schemes without negatively affecting other welfare supports they may be entitled to.

The ESP provides funding to community organisations in Britain supporting survivors such as the immigrant counselling and psychotherapy organisation known as ICAP, the London Irish Centre, Coventry Irish Society and Fréa in the north of England. Our funding supports eight full-time posts and two part-time posts to ensure dedicated support is provided to the survivor community. These organisations have been centrally involved in assisting survivors in Britain to access the mother and baby institutions payments scheme.

As we look to the future, it is vital that we support our vibrant and diverse diaspora, particularly in Britain. I will continue to ensure that the ESP prioritises projects that place the welfare and care of our citizens at their heart and that deepen our ties with our uniquely rich and dynamic Irish communities. I look forward to engaging further with the Senator.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for the detail and his passion for this important subject. He mentioned Dún Laoghaire Harbour. He and I know it because we both served on the council where the harbour is located. It is known locally as the harbour of tears and we understand why. So many people emigrated. They did not fly; they left mainly from Dún Laoghaire and Dublin ports.

There were two key messages I am very encouraged by. The Minister of State said:

An important part of Ireland's diaspora strategy is a commitment to heal the relationship with those who left Ireland in crisis and survivors of institutional abuse. Britain is home to the largest numbers of victims of institutional abuse.

I have had that experience, as I have shared in this House. I do not like getting emotional but I can see people leaving our harbour of tears. We have to reach out to them and be there for them. I thank the Minister of State.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I sincerely thank the Senator and reassure everyone in the House, particularly the Senator, that not a day goes by that our team in Britain does not reach out to prevent people being forgotten and make sure their pain is in some way addressed. This cold State provided no home for them and forced them to get on the ferry or mailboat and leave, wrapped in awful emotional distress. The Ireland of today, the modern Republic the Senator and I love, is not the same place. We will continue with every instinct and at every opportunity to in some way address the great miscarriage of justice and sheer evil carried out in our institutions over such a long period of time.

The survivor community in Britain is perhaps the most vulnerable at this stage. Their age profile is growing older and their health is not great. They have been hidden, have tried to forget their past and have not told their new families or communities about it. It is our responsibility to reach out to them sensitively, appropriately and efficiently and to make sure the care we failed to provide for them previously is not lacking in these important years. I commit to the Senator that every day I am in this brief, I will make sure that is done.