The Government faces major criticism in the Dáil this week over its treatment of Irish emigrants in Britain.
A Labour Party motion condemning the Government's neglect of emigrants and its failure to implement the recommendations of the 2002 task force policy report, will be debated tomorrow night and on Wednesday.
Prompted by the RTÉ Prime Time programme in December, which highlighted the appalling conditions in which many elderly Irish emigrants were living, the Labour motion calls for the implementation of the task force report's recommendations, in- cluding a new co-ordinated approach to the provision of services, the establishment of an agency for the Irish abroad and a funding scheme for care and support services to elderly returning emigrants in supported housing accommodation.
The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said the people featured in the Prime Time programme were "mainly men, who were forced through dire economic circumstances to emigrate to Britain, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, to make their living through hard, manual work. Each week they faithfully sent home a great part of their wage packets."
The Government is expected to put in its own amendment, highlighting efforts made to help emigrants.
