Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and Deputy Seán Crowe for their report. We have to keep trying, but there have been many false dawns on this issue. Can anything be done to separate the Irish from the rest? I recall that the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, raised this matter with George W. Bush when they met him in the White House. Mr. Bush was positive about looking after the number of Irish involved because they came to only 50,000 in number. That was until his adviser told him at the meeting about the 6 million Mexicans in Texas, which changed the dynamics. Is there an opportunity to go for a bilateral arrangement with the United States similar t the one reached between the United States and Australia? We need more than just the single strand of trying to get all 11 million illegal immigrants across the line.