Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 227: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of discretionary funds to non-Irish emigrant groups, allocated to each of the four Irish consulates in the United States of America, as well as the Irish Embassy in Washington; the matters on which these funds were expended; the persons, organisations or bodies who were recipients in each case of funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15498/08]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the funding or financial support given by his Department to an agency, body, community, religious or other group or organisation, in the United States for each year since 2000 to date in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15374/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 227 and 243 together.

Apart from the funding provided to U.S. based international organisations, such as the United Nations, and emergency aid granted, for example, to the American Red Cross to support displaced communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Department has provided ongoing financial support to organisations engaged in the delivery of services to Irish emigrants in the United States since 1989 (see Table 1). Until recently this funding has been concentrated solely on the support of Immigration Centres that provide advice and assistance to Irish citizens. The centres and immigration lobby groups are located in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Maryland, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and Washington DC. We have also provided funding for the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres, a coordination and umbrella body for the centres' activities.

Following the publication of the Task Force on Policy regarding Emigrants, my Ministerial predecessor, Brian Cowen T.D., announced the establishment of a dedicated Unit within the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Irish Abroad Unit. This Unit now administers the Government's Emigrant Support Programme, which provides financial support to organisations in the voluntary sector engaged in the delivery of services to Irish emigrants, particularly to the more vulnerable and marginalised members of our community abroad. Since the establishment of the Irish Abroad Unit, the Government has considerably increased the funding available to support emigrant services worldwide, with Government funding to organisations in the United States increasing from $356,000 in 2003 to $2,149,815 in 2007. While the emphasis of this funding continues to be on supporting the welfare, information and immigration advisory services provided by the Immigration Centres, the progressive increases have allowed the Programme to expand and include a number of capital projects, as well as projects which foster a greater sense of identity and belonging within the Irish community, including culture, heritage and sports projects.

The Government has also provided substantial financial support to the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, which augments the Government's sustained contact with the US Administration and both Houses of Congress and contributes to our broad based efforts to promote US immigration reform and thereby resolve the status of the undocumented Irish. Following the dissolution of the Cultural Relations Committee in February 2005, the Consulates and the Embassy have received annual allocations for the promotion and advancement of Irish arts and culture. This programme is administered by the Department's Cultural Division. Details of the amounts allocated to each of the Missions are provided in Table 2. No discretionary funds have been allocated either to the Consulates or the Embassy for the support of non Irish emigrant groups.