A new agency should be set up to look after the needs of thousands of elderly Irish emigrants in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, Fine Gael and Labour have proposed.
The proposal is one of the key elements of a policy document jointly published by the two parties yesterday, Reaching Out: Caring for the Irish Abroad.
The creation of the agency was one of the major recommendations made by a top-level expert group two years ago, but it was ruled out by the then minister for foreign affairs, Brian Cowen.
"We believe that we have a duty of care and responsibility towards Irish-born citizens wherever they reside, particularly those who now face economic and social disadvantage," said Fine Gael and Labour.
Under the joint plan, RTÉ would be given legal powers to broadcast domestically produced programming, such as The Late, Late Show, into the UK, or else to make deals with cable companies there to carry its signal. However, RTÉ would have to black out its international shows, such as ER, because the price it pays for such programmes would increase significantly if they were made available to a larger market.
Irish emigrants in the UK sent home €3.5 billion in remittances during the 1950s and 1960s: "It is about time that we said thank you in a tangible form," the Fine Gael and Labour document said.
So far, the Government has provided €2.5 million in 2003, €7 million in 2004 and €12 million this year to emigrant organisations, though the Task Force Report on Emigration in 2004 had recommended far more. Fine Gael and Labour said emigrants should qualify for a share of the €300 million held in dormant accounts in the State. Given that 60 per cent of London's homeless are Irish, a dedicated fund should be created to fund voluntary agencies that work with "those who are old, alone, unwell or homeless".
Emigrants returning to Ireland should qualify for free public transport and fuel allowances, while extra supports for those wishing to return home on holidays should also be offered.
Some emigrants want to return to Ireland permanently, said Galway East TD Paul Connaughton (FG), but most do not. "Many of them have been gone for 50 years. They would be lost if they walked down the main street of their home town."
Fine Gael and Labour said they were committed to giving emigrants a voice in the Oireachtas, though they acknowledged that difficulties had arisen in the past about appointing a senator to do this job.
The plight of the Irish "illegals" in the US could be eased by offering the United States a reciprocal visa programme to allow its citizens to live and work in the State, particularly since the US has agreed similar deals with Australia and Chile in recent years.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Bishops' Commission for Emigrants, Dr Séamus Hegarty, said he hopes the US authorities will open "a path to legalisation for the undocumented Irish living there".
He said this year's "Supporting Irish Abroad" campaign, which is run by the Episcopal Commission, "aims to encourage Irish people living at home to communicate with relatives or friends abroad whose traditional point of contact may have ceased.
"For this year, we ask you to join in our effort by sending a letter, making a phone call or, in this era of cheaper travel, you might consider making a visit to the person in question."
Dr Hegarty said he welcomed "the commitment of the Government to support emigrants as demonstrated in its recent decision to establish a dedicated emigrants' service via the unit for the Irish abroad at the Department of Foreign Affairs".