Madam, - I read with some disappointment Emmet Stagg's claims that our emigrants are being neglected (The Irish Times, December 20th).
I am not sure whether the Labour Party is engaging in selective political amnesia, but Mr Stagg seems to have failed to mention that the amounts available for emigrant services in the 2005 Estimates show a very substantial increase. At €8.2 million, the figure represents a doubling of the 2004 estimates figure. Even allowing for the additional funding made available during 2004, this still represents an overall increase of 63 per cent over 2004.
This very substantial increase clearly reflects the strength of the commitment of Fianna Fáil in Government to our emigrant communities. Overall, funding to Emigrant Services has grown by 850 per cent since 1997 at the time of the Rainbow Government when Emmet Stagg was a Minister of State and there was indeed real neglect of Irish emigrants.
The very substantial increases in the Estimates have been warmly welcomed by both the director of the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants, and the director of the Federation of Irish Societies in Britain. The available funding will go to groups providing front-line services for the most vulnerable Irish abroad, particularly in Britain.
I congratulate the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, for the financial commitment shown to improve the lot of our emigrants abroad and look forward to them building progressively on this over the coming years. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN CARTY, TD, (Fianna Fáil), Leinster House, Dublin 2.