Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The Government's position is we wish to have a comprehensive Bill put forward because that will deal with this issue once and for all. Obviously, other options are being considered and have been considered over the past two and a half years. We have to take cognisance of the fact there are tactics involved. People must be acutely aware that until the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform organisation was formed, those on Capitol Hill did not know this was an Irish problem; they thought it was essentially a Mexican problem. Thankfully, now there is an Irish element to the issue. Suggestions have been made on all sides of the House that we should opt for a bilateral agreement. The problem with such an agreement is it would, in effect, break the unity that exists between all of the representatives of the various nationalities which are in difficulties in this respect.

The core issues affecting Irish people are practical ones relating to the ability to travel back and forth and also to work openly in the US economy. That is something to which the Taoiseach referred because it had been raised with him in his meetings with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Speaker Pelosi gave a very strong message, as did President Bush. Deputy Higgins referred to a possible integration of security and border legislation and the immigration issue. President Bush informed us that all such legislation has already been put in place. As he indicated, the only outstanding issue is that of the approximately 12 million people who are in a twilight position in the United States.

The Irish are a relatively small proportion of that figure but they are an important element because of the type of influence Irish America has in the US. This was evident from the number of Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen who lined up to meet with us in order to give their views on this issue. Senator Kennedy indicated he hoped the starting point would be the previous Bill which emerged from the Senate. We were given an indication by others, including Nancy Pelosi, that it was the starting point. My officials will work with the ILIR and all of the other NGOs which are interested in this area, in addition to the Congressmen and Congresswomen on Capitol Hill in order to bring this forward. I am hopeful there will be moves before the middle of the year to bring the Bill back into the Senate and that it could be brought further.

As a result of the political change following the mid-term elections in the United States in November 2006, people interested in this issue in Ireland and elsewhere considered we were home-free, and that there would be a change of attitude and direction on the immigration reform issue. I pointed out at a previous Question Time that it is not a simple matter. There are some even in the Democratic Party who have grave reservations when it comes to moving on a comprehensive Bill that would deal with all this. Our sights are high, but we are obviously open to other suggestions in the event of an overall package not being available so that we can secure the best deal for our people.

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