State funding rules for emigrant organisations in the United Kingdom and elsewhere must be tightened, a review commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs has recommended.
Since 2003, government funding for emigrants' bodies has grown from €3 million to almost €12 million last year, while €15 million will be paid out this year to 184 projects in eight countries under the Irish Emigrant Groups programme.
"The selection processes used have worked well, and the grants made have been directed to organisations that have used them in an effective and efficient way," the Goodbody report said.
However, it cautioned: "the rapid growth of the programme means that selection processes that have worked well until now may no longer be appropriate in the future. This is particularly the case in Britain."
Up to now, the grants have been "driven by the range of applications received", rather than by a strategy set down by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the report, lodged in July, stated.
The examination of grant applications to date has "been relatively informal".But, it said: "as continues to grow there is an urgent need to put a formalised system of monitoring and evaluation [ in place]. This will require more resources to be devoted to the administration of the programme."
So far, the State money, provided after complaints that elderly Irish abroad were living in poverty and loneliness, has made "impressive progress" in "connecting vulnerable Irish emigrants".
The decision to direct State aid to existing Irish emigrant organisations has been "extremely effective and efficient", and "tapped into the energy and volunteer work of Irish communities around the world."
"Achieving the same impact through any of the alternative approaches available, such as an expanded consular service, or the formation of a dedicated agency, would have been significantly less efficient," said the report.
"However, in view of the growth of the programme, systems that have worked well until now may need to be more formal in the future," it said, adding that decisions on where funding goes should be made in Foreign Affairs.
"A top-down element should be introduced into the allocation process; and the current emphasis on formalising the application process must be continued and reinforced."
Urging greater central control over the spending of funds, Goodbody recommended that "strategic priorities should be increasingly evident in the allocation process", particularly in the UK.
"Before considering individual grant applications, a decision should be made in principle as to the allocation of grants by type of project and location," it said, in a 98-page report, now carried on the department's website.
The funds are allocated by the department's Irish Abroad Unit, which was set up in July 2004.
A survey carried out in 1992 showed that 1.2 million Irish-born people, or in the region of 20 per cent of all Irish-born people, were living outside the island of Ireland at the time.
Among these, it was estimated approximately three-quarters were living in Britain, 20 per cent in the US, with the remainder living mainly in Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the EU.
Most of the money, €10.2 million, is spent in Britain - the home of the majority of those who left Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s; €1.1m was disbursed in the US, while just €20,000, for example, was spent in Zimbabwe.