Speech at the launch of the SPIRASI Health Information Programme

Speech for Ivor Callely TD, Minister of State at the Dep. of Health and Children
on the occasion of the launch of the Health Information Programme materials at SPIRASI on the 20th June (World Refugee Day) 2003.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I am very pleased to have been invited here today by SPIRASI to formally launch the Health Information Programme materials.

World Refugee Day

As you know it is no coincidence that we are here today as it is also World Refugee Day. This year the United Nations specifically dedicated the 20^th June 2003 to the many millions of young people whose futures have been jeopardised by war persecution and exile during what should be the most formative, promising and exciting years of their lives.

Sadly rather than being able to enjoy their youth, they are faced with the harsh reality of displacement.

The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that "World Refugee Day is a salute to the indomitable spirit and courage of the world's refugees and as such it be a real celebration".

This event today will hopefully be viewed as a vitally important contribution by those of you gathered here and the many others around Ireland in the celebration of World Refugee Day.

Background to asylum and refugee issues in Ireland.

The development of the Health Information is a key resource Programme, which I will refer to again later, is a key response at a critical time to a need identified by asylum seekers, health services personnel, SPIRASI and other non-Governmental organisations.

The past decade has seen many changes in Ireland's economic and social fabric which are unprecedented in our history. We have benefited greatly from the Celtic Tiger during the 1990s and as a small nation we have really made a mark on the global economic stage.

The economic growth the of past decade brought an influx of workers from both EU and non-EU countries - a phenomenon not seen since the foundation of the State. In addition, many Irish people returned from countries to which they had migrated to in previous years.

The past decade also saw a huge increase in the numbers of asylum seekers entering the country. In 1992 there were 39 applications for asylum in Ireland. These numbers increased dramatically such that by 2002, the number of applications had risen to 11,634.

In a country more used to emigration rather than immigration, we face an unprecedented challenge at all levels of our society and across all ranges of State, semi-State and commercial services. We also face huge challenges at the community and social levels of our society in learning to work, live and socialise within a multicultural environment.

This changing environment provides challenges and opportunities for all of us.

Asylum seekers have been the subject of much media coverage in recent years and a great deal of it, I regret to say is ill informed.

Ill-informed press stories create an unbalanced view of the State's approach to its obligations and more importantly help to foster intolerance in a society which is having to come to terms very quickly in moving from what was largely a uni-cultural society to a multicultural one.

We all wish to ensure genuine asylum seekers are fully integrated and welcomed into our community. This Government is aware of certain abuses in the system and we are addressing those abuses.

Challenges posed for Ireland and Health Sector

The changes in the make-up of Irish society as it moves to a multicultural format poses challenges for all of us and particularly for the health services. After all, the health services are the one area of contact for everybody in the country at some point in time.

The health sector has seen dramatic changes in recent years not only in the delivery of services to a growing multicultural society but also rapid changes within its own culture through the employment of many hundreds of non-nationals most notably in the nursing profession.

Work of SPIRASI and the Health Information Programme (HIP)

In establishing SPIRASI in 1999, the founders saw the need for a centre to provide asylum seekers and refugees with a variety of supports to encourage self reliance and to promote the process of integration.

In this context, the development of the Health Information Programme (or HIP) is an excellent example of what can be achieved through close co-operation between the statutory and voluntary sector.

The HIP programme run by SPlRASI with the co-operation and assistance of the Reception and Integration Agency and the Northern Area Health Board is the latest addition to an impressive programme of schemes and supports available at this centre which includes the services of the Centre for Education and Integration of Migrants (CEIM) and the Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture (CCST).

The aim of the HIP programme is to provide newly arrived genuine asylum seekers with some fundamental information on the structure and delivery of health services in Ireland and how they may be accessed. More importantly, it gives asylum seekers their first sense of some of the cultural norms in Ireland.

The needs for education on cultural matters and cultural difference is equally applicable for the indigenous population as for genuine asylum seekers or migrant workers. I know that Reception and Integration Agency and the Health Boards are working to develop various materials and presentations to inform and stimulate discussion within the health services on the issues of working in a multicultural environment.

While the HIP programme is aimed at asylum seekers initially arriving in Dublin, I know there is huge interest among Health Boards outside the Eastern region in developing similar education materials in their areas. The HIP programme would seem most suitable as the basis for the development of complementary programmes of education and information on the health services for asylum seekers.

I must say I am most impressed by the poster and information materials on display here today for the HIP programme and I see this being a vital step along the road of enabling better co-operation and working within a rapidly changing society and cultural environment.

Conclusion

It only remains for me to convey my thanks to SPIRASI, the Northern Area Health Board, the Reception and Integration Agency and the many other unsung heroes involved in putting the HIP programme and the materials together and to wish everyone continued success in their endeavour in the months and years ahead.

It gives me great pleasure to formally declare the Health Information Programme Materials launched.
Thank you.