Did the Taoiseach watch last night's "Prime Time" television programme on Irish emigrants, especially those in Britain? This matter was the subject of Labour Party Private Member's business approximately a year ago. There was an earlier, comprehensive "Prime Time" programme about the 700,000 people whom we shipped out of this country in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of them did not have the opportunity to acquire any level of formal education. Some have fallen on very hard times. Some live in isolation and are not supported — this area is the responsibility of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and he might do me the courtesy of listening — and some people live in squalor and in difficult circumstances in British cities.

It is estimated that these people remitted altogether £3.5 billion to this country when we badly needed it. The Taoiseach's Government set up a task force to examine this which reported after the most significant boom this country has ever seen. It recommended the provision of certain services, including setting up an agency to deal with the issue and the provision of €18 million by 2003 rising to €34 million in 2005, a very small amount. Deputies Stagg, Seán Ryan and I met some of the people featured on last night's programme. They raised very small issues such as free travel for people who return here, access to Irish television, the holiday week recommended in Fr. Paul Byrne's report to the task force. We met Bishop Hegarty who is concerned with the same issue on behalf of the Irish bishops. He too believes that the capacity to fund people and organisations working with the Irish in these circumstances in British cities is not sufficiently funded and that more outreach workers and so on could be provided. Will the Taoiseach tell us his response to this, given there was no provision in the budget except an amount that will bring the total allocation for next year to €8 million at a time when his task force recommended €34 million?

I recall discussion on this issue at the beginning of the year. We are all aware that there is a section of Irish emigrants in Britain who live in difficult circumstances and are not covered by British pension provisions. Many were in the construction industry in Britain as highlighted and were not covered by insurance or pension provision. In one year we have doubled the aid programme to €8 million. That is a 100% increase on last year. This is to assist the various schemes. Almost no resources were spent on this until the past few years. The former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Cowen, originally gave money for workers and aid workers and last year he went to see what was happening in this area. A few years ago we also extended the pre-1953 pensions for many of these people who were not receiving pensions. Now an additional €72 million is paid from our social welfare budget to assist these people. We set up the unit for the Irish abroad in the Department of Foreign Affairs which now works and deals with them. The previous Minister, Deputy Cowen, and his successor, Deputy Dermot Ahern, have kept in touch with this issue. Deputy Dermot Ahern is meeting the groups next week in London.

We considered free travel a few years ago. This cannot be given in isolation just to Irish people abroad. It must be extended on a Europe-wide basis. We examined this in some detail regarding people in Britain and Northern Ireland but it was impossible. A substantial amount has been done in one year in this area. We have always worked with the local authorities in Britain as well and put in resources through the DION grants to assist them in working on the various schemes. Now a high proportion of this money will be paid by individuals. The resources paid in pensions, the €8 million in funding and the effort that is being put in by the Irish abroad unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs are improving this position.

The record shows that when the Minister for Foreign Affairs took the report of the task force €1 million was being allocated in 2002 and the response was to cut that for 2003. After the Labour Party motion on Private Member's business €5 million was provided and next year it will be €8 million. Bishop Hegarty and others working with the Irish in difficult, stressful circumstances in British cities acknowledge that much could be done were it funded. The Taoiseach says that the Government has dealt with the pre-1953 pensioners. They paid for their pensions; they are receiving their entitlement. In terms of free travel, the notion of EU citizens over 65, with senior citizen status, coming here for free travel is simply not realistic. This is a modest demand from the people concerned and there is no impediment in the way of the pre-1953 pensioners receiving it.

The issue for Bishop Hegarty and others is whether they can get multi-annual budgeting so that they can plan the expansion of the services over the years ahead. Within ten years, in the nature of things, most of these people will have departed. It is a problem for a certain generation category. Some of these people live in appalling circumstances, some remitted their pay to their families in this country when it was badly needed. They can no longer work on building sites and some live in appalling conditions in London. The bishop and others need to be able to plan the capacity of the organisations dealing with them, to employ more outreach workers and for that reason a commitment to multi-annual budgeting would help alleviate the hardship they are enduring.

The Irish abroad unit was set up to liaise and work with the groups abroad. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, tells me that most of the groups involved are very complimentary of the work being done and the resources provided. There has been an increase of approximately 800% in this budget over the past few years, and an increase of100%, from €4 million to €8 million, to help those people. They are directly involved in helping those people. I have addressed the issue of travel. When studying the 1953 pension issue we showed that when we brought in the changes 70% of recipients were in Britain.

They paid for it.

No, they did not.

I am sorry, Deputy Stagg, but it is Deputy Rabbitte's question.

They were in the United Kingdom and were not paying contributions. They do not have an insurance element and that is why we brought in the pre-1953 scheme. A sum of €72 million is going into that scheme to help them, apart from the fact that our pensions are far better than those in the UK. We are assisting those people, as is the Irish Abroad unit, both with resources and through the contacts that it has built up with such groups. I am not saying that there are not very sad cases, because there are, but we are going some way towards helping Father Hegarty and all the other groups active in this area for many years, and we will continue to do so.