Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I support my colleague Deputy Connaughton. I wish well the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, who is dealing with emigration, and I congratulate Deputy Mary Wallace on her appointment as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food.

We are sick and tired of the behaviour of the US Government and it is time we adopted a tougher approach to it. We have pussyfooted for long enough on this issue and thousands of people are meeting every week to discuss it. Last weekend there was a meeting in New York and there have been meetings in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and Washington. The people affected are Irish citizens. We are supposed to have a special relationship with the US Government. How could the same Government allocate 10,500 visas to Australian citizens in recent months? What did the Australian people ever do for America? It was the Irish people who built America and ensured that its economy is as it is today. It is too bad if our Taoiseach and our Ministers cannot secure a special deal for Irish people. A special deal has been reached for people from Nicaragua, Chile and other countries. We want a deal for Irish citizens, once and for all.

I remind the Minister of State and the Taoiseach that there is supposed to be a special relationship between Ireland and the United States. It is time for us to call in a special favour. Like Deputy Connaughton and many Fianna Fáil backbenchers, I am sick and tired of listening to mothers and fathers telling me that their sons and daughters cannot leave the US to come home to bury their loved ones, to attend a wedding or to be present on special occasions. I do not refer to people who have been in the US for six months, but to people who have been there for ten, 15 or 20 years. When the representatives of the Government go abroad this year, I do not want to see the Taoiseach in the US engaging in a charade with a bit of shamrock. He should go there to make a special case for our illegal immigrants and to strike the deal that the US Government owes to the Irish people. We are sick and tired of taking dictation from them. We want a deal for our emigrants. I am worried that the McCain-Kennedy Bill will go down because Irish-American politicians are getting afraid ahead of the elections next year. We need to put pressure on American politicians and the US ambassador to Ireland. We do not want any more short-term arrangements. I want our people to be looked after. I am sick and tired of what I am hearing coming out of the US.

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