Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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I fully agree with the statement Ms Kennelly made earlier about how Covid has exacerbated existing conditions for those who are migrants, regardless of whether they are legal or illegal. If Covid has shown us anything, it has really rocked us to our core and exposed how reliant we are on friends and family. When you are away from home or in a foreign country, that lack of familiarity can be extremely unsettling, and this during such a challenging time. I commend the work the witnesses have been doing with the Irish in America and congratulate them on the men's shed. I hope it takes off. I know men's sheds have been a hugely positive experience here. Also, I thank all the witnesses for sharing their experience and their knowledge. There really is no substitute for hearing from people on the ground what the Irish are experiencing abroad.

I will not go back over what other contributors have said but I do want to hone in on just a couple of points. One is the US Citizenship Act of 2021. Mr. Stahl mentioned that there is a lack of agreement as to what should be included in the smaller Bills. Can he give us some more details on that? What at this point in time are proving to be the biggest barriers to the smaller bills that need to be passed?

As for the undocumented community, Mr. Collins stated: "The undocumented retreated further under the radar, becoming further isolated from the community." Has that started to change with the roll-out of vaccinations and the easing of restrictions? Are those people coming back? All illegal immigrants, from any country, come with a certain level of vulnerability. When there is a centre from which they can obtain support, to hear they are pulling away and retreating from that I find very concerning. Are these people starting to come back to the centres for supports? Do the witnesses know whether there is access to vaccines for our undocumented in America and what the uptake, if any, is at the moment?

Finally, the issue of families seeking to return to Ireland is something the committee needs to come back on and have a look at. I refer not only to those returning from the United States. In many ways our system here is very antiquated and could do with being updated to recognise that when people leave the country they will not always be gone for their entire lives and may come back. I just do not think we have the systems in place here, and I speak of this from experience. I know personally two people who have had to come back from the United States in the past 12 months, and the difficulties they have experienced are mind-blowing. They do not reflect very well on our system.

I will leave it at that. I thank the witnesses again for their time and for sharing their experiences.