Letter from William P. Fay to Frederick H. Boland (London)
(402/218) (Copy)

This is simply to acknowledge your official minute (B.111/3) of the 22nd August¹ with which you forwarded to us a copy of a letter with enclosures received from the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child. We discussed this subject at our recent conference in the Department with Michael Rynne. We all recognise the magnitude and difficulty of the problem presented by the emigration of young girls to England. Since the removal of British travel restrictions it is now completely impossible to check emigration by any official means. Technically it would be possible to impose an exit permit on all persons leaving the State, but even if public opinion were to agree to such a drastic proposal (which we never contemplated even at the height of the Second World War) it would obviously be an excessive restriction on travel to meet this limited problem. Any restriction on emigration must, therefore, be ruled out as impossible.

It is obviously desirable and proper, however, that we should show to all concerned that the Government is fully alive to the grave dangers to young people involved in this unrestricted employment of children, particularly girls under age. One step which can be taken and which I feel should be taken is to restrict the activities of employment agencies. It should be quite feasible to make it an offence for any agency to solicit employment abroad for persons under the age of twenty-one, and, in addition, it should be possible to subject employment agencies catering for foreign markets to some form of control. Advertisements in the press could also be restricted or perhaps made illegal. We are considering this problem carefully and hope to have concrete proposals to put before the Minister for Justice at an early date.

We shall let you know how this matter develops. In the meanwhile you can give an assurance, when you feel it desirable to do so, that the Irish authorities are anxiously considering the problems of juvenile emigration and, in so far as it may be possible for them in the circumstances to do so, hope to take action to stem the abuses.