Billy Lawless (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being here. We had the Irish element of World Vision in last week and they spoke in particular about South Sudan, another major area of catastrophe. Approximately 2 million people have been displaced internally and 2 million people have also fled to Uganda. These people feel it is the forgotten war and the displacement of people is on a massive scale. Where do we stand with regard to South Sudan?

My bailiwick is the visa issue. We have been inundated with refusals of visas, particularly J1s and, more important, E2s this year. Senators Mark Daly, Conway and I met staff from the embassy and it was a very strong discussion that happened approximately two months ago. Many Deputies and Senators were irate at the time because there were so many refusals. We want to cool it down a bit and we met those officials as a result. There is no doubt in my mind that there has been a change in policy. The amount of refusals this year is a multiple of last year's total. With the economy doing so well, Irish companies are investing in the United States and trying to bring out top executives on E2 visas. It is the same visa on which I went to the US 20 years ago. They are being refused now, which is very worrying for companies that have already invested millions of euro.

In a recent case, an Irish builder who got his visa three years and who has 32 houses being built in Boston came home to renew his visa with his wife and two children. The renewal was refused. It is serious. Senator Mark Daly backed me up but we were told there has been no change in policy. That is not what I am seeing on the ground. The other question is the reciprocity deal and we are dealing with administration, so is there progress on that? I know the Tánaiste was involved with that.