Would you sign up to an Emigrant Register to receive information on job vacancies and other relevant issues from the Irish Government? Let us know what you think of the idea in the comments section below.

Joe O’Brien

Emigration creates disconnected lives, families and communities. And yet we are led to believe that as a society and globally, we are more interconnected than ever before.

Since April 2008 a quarter of a million Irish people have left the State. Most worryingly, recent CSO stats show that in the year up to April 2014 we had the lowest rate of return emigration since these records began 18 years ago in 1996. Those who have left are increasingly deciding to stay away.

As a pre-departure information service for emigrants, Crosscare Migrant Project has seen how the recent wave of emigration has been substantially different to previous times. The internet has transformed the emigration experience, allowing for a far higher degree of pre-departure preparation. For example it is now possible to search for, view and finalise accommodation online before departure. Successful job interviews are often held via web based video link for jobs on the other side of the world. Communication options with home have improved dramatically with email, social networking, photo sharing and live video linking via Skype for example, all available at extremely low cost.

But once people have left the State it will have little or any interaction with them, unless they return home.

Proposal

What we are proposing to the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs today is a remarkably simple idea: the creation of a State managed email based database whereby emigrants would simply log minimal information such as name, email address and country of residence. Then periodically they would receive an email newsletter from the Irish State.

The Irish Emigrant Register could be used in a number of ways to improve the connection between the State and our ever growing diaspora. A very practical initial purpose would be to facilitate return migration by connecting Irish emigrants abroad and the developing labour market in Ireland. The State could for example contact emigrants directly with a list of job vacancies and emerging skills needs in the Irish labour market as part of a regular update or newsletter.

The Department of Social Protection has sent welfare recipients in Ireland notifications of job adverts for countries as far away as Canada. Yesterday I found a total of 41 adverts for jobs abroad on Intreo’s job search database. The Irish State should also be notifying Irish emigrants abroad of jobs in Ireland. The Department of Jobs and in particular the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs could feed into such updates by providing information on current and emerging skills needs.

This is information that our emigrants abroad should have as soon as it comes out. I attended a National Youth Council conference on return migration two weeks ago where a representative from the Construction Industry Federation expressed concern that the industry was unable to fill emerging technical posts.

The register is a way of getting people home. Particularly in the context of unemployment and austerity measures people are feeling there is an implied invite to leave the country by the State. Whatever amount of truth there may be in this, many would agree that there should be an explicit invite to return and stay connected.

Not surprisingly, the availability of jobs was one of the most common factors cited by emigrants abroad that would influence the chances of an emigrant returning home, according to the UCC Emigre report. The establishment of the Irish Emigrant Register would be a very clear way of saying “we want you back”.

Other uses

It could also be used for other purposes such as informing citizens about relevant embassy and consular services, and passport and travel advice issues. It could also be used as the basis of a consultation tool in the development of relevant Government policy. In the internet age our citizens abroad can be as connected with and invested in political, economic and social issues in Ireland as those of us still living here – their views could and should be elicited and invited in a more direct manner that the Irish Emigrant Register could facilitate.

We would propose that the register might be best managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with inputs from the Department of Jobs and Intreo in the Department of Social Protection.

Getting people to register will be the biggest challenge. It would need to be marketed by Government at a very high level, and globally. St Patrick’s Day 2015 could for example offer an ideal platform for the register to be launched and promoted. The working holiday visa application form for Irish people applying to work in Canada or Australia could include an option to register for the database. We are calling for funding in Budget 2015 for the proposal.

The Irish Emigrant Register will not transform emigration into something easy nor will it make forced emigration more acceptable.

What it does have the capacity to do is to serve as a link between the State and its citizens abroad many of whom feel poorly supported and forgotten about. Ultimately it can help to improve our relationship with our diaspora not in an ethereal way but in a very practical and tangible sense.

The proposal will need a modest amount of funding compared to its potential gains. It will need focussed co-operation between a number of Government departments and it requires a dedicated responsibility being assigned and persisted with.

Many of our emigrants abroad are only waiting to get the call home only waiting to feel more connected with their country. In a globalised world let us take the lead in showing other global nations how to stay connected and prove how much our diaspora means to us.

Would you sign up to an Emigrant Register? Let us know what you think of the idea in the comments section below.

Joe O’Brien is policy officer with Crosscare Migrant Project, the social care agency of the Dublin Archdiocese which has been providing support to emigrants since the 1940s. See migrantproject.ie. This is an edited version of a presentation Crosscare will give to an Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade at 2.30pm this afternoon. Watch the proceedings live here.