Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 405: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will ensure that the funding allocation for an organisation (details supplied) will be continued. [32564/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The establishment of the Irish Abroad Unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2004 has greatly enhanced our capacity to develop and implement policies to support the Irish community overseas, in particular elderly people and those at risk of social exclusion. My Department remains very supportive of the excellent work of the Safe Home programme. The award of a €249,900 grant in April of this year brought the Department's total funding for the Safe Home programme since 2005 to over €900,000. In 2007, additional Government funding, totalling €72,000, was also awarded to the Safe Home Programme by the Department of Environment and Local Government and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. This substantial funding is testament to the high value which the Government places on the work performed by the Safe Home programme in enabling elderly Irish emigrants to return to live in Ireland.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has progressively increased the level of funding available for emigrant services in recent years, from €3 million in 2003 to a record €15.183 million this year. These significant increases have enabled the Emigrant Support Programme, administered by the Irish Abroad Unit, to provide far greater financial support to the most vulnerable members of our overseas communities. As the Deputy will appreciate, all grant applications for Emigrant Support funding are reviewed on their respective merits each year.