Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will expand on the warning he gave to Irish emigrants in London on 17 November 2005 of the potential costs of returning to live here; if he has satisfied himself that sufficient steps have been taken to alert returning emigrants of such potential costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37202/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The role of my Department in the area of supporting Irish emigrants has been built around providing good quality, clear and comprehensive information. It is essential that Irish emigrants, who are considering returning to Ireland to live, have up-to-date information available to them. My Department carries out this function by supporting the various voluntary agencies involved in this work.

Recently my Department funded Emigrant Advice, the main voluntary organisation involved in information provision to emigrants, to publish a comprehensive information guide for returning Irish emigrants. This guide, entitled Returning to Ireland, contains information on a wide range of topics including social welfare, health, pensions, taxation, education and accommodation and sets out clearly the benefits and costs associated with returning to Ireland to live. The information is presented in a way that is tailored to the needs of targeted groups of people, for instance, the elderly coming home to retire, single people returning to Ireland to find work, and the needs of families hoping to start a new life in Ireland.

In partnership with Emigrant Advice and the Department of Foreign Affairs, my Department has ensured that this guide has been widely distributed. Copies have been posted to all our Irish immigrant centres abroad and to all Irish embassies and consulates. It has also been widely distributed to organisations in Ireland such as citizen information centres, FÁS offices, and social welfare local offices.

It is important that returning emigrants realise there are costs as well as benefits involved in deciding to come back to Ireland. On my recent visit to the Irish Centre in Camden Town, London, to launch the guide Returning to Ireland, I highlighted these matters so that people considering returning to live in Ireland can make informed decisions. This advice along with the publication and widespread distribution of comprehensive information such as the Returning to Ireland guide is an important step in insuring that returning emigrants are alerted to all the implications when making their decision to return to Ireland to live.