Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome Deputy Kenny's support on this issue, which is creating a high degree of frustration and concern for undocumented Irish, particularly those who left for the United States in the wave of emigration in the early 1980s. They are over 20 years in the country. As was the case last St. Patrick's Day, I will take every opportunity to raise this issue with key figures from the administration.

As I reported to the House previously, we must pursue two fronts on this issue. One concerns the legislative measures in the three proposals in the administration, between the Senate and the House of Representatives. I believe that Senator McCain's Bill will surface but we cannot be certain. The difficulty is that the old system of quotas no longer applies. If a quota arrangement were in place, one could lobby for a quota. We are unlikely to receive preferential treatment, as Deputy Kenny is aware from his discussions. How can we encourage the administration to make the distinction between the Mexican situation and smaller countries? It is very difficult to legislate for this situation. If there was a quota system, it would be very small in proportion to the number of immigrants there. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and all other Ministers, when meeting here or in the United States, will continue to lobby on this issue.

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