The Government has a "moral responsibility" to appoint a minister with specific responsibility for emigrant affairs to investigate the health of Irish people living in Britain, the Fine Gael spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell, said yesterday.
The minister could co-ordinate qualitative and quantitative research on the issue with the British government under the auspices of the Anglo-Irish Council of Ministers.
During a private visit to London, Mr Mitchell referred to a recent study published by the British Journal of Psychiatry, which found that the mortality rate of Irish people living in Britain exceeded the average mortality rate in England and Wales by 30 per cent for men and by 20 per cent for women.
"The figures are startling," Mr Mitchell said, "but we can't just leave it to the British government. We need to take an interest and co-ordinate a response to the needs of emigrants." One such response might be Irish and British government-sponsored research into the reasons behind the deteriorating health of the Irish in Britain.
"Then we can measure this problem and see what we can do in response to it," Mr Mitchell added.