Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I discussed a range of international issues, including Iraq, with President Bush. The Americans are continuing to work with the elected Government in Iraq to try to bring peace and some harmony to that war-torn area. Certain problems are continuing to this day, unfortunately — a large number of people were killed in Iraq today. I think the US Administration would be glad to be able to finish its mandate in Iraq by leaving a more peaceful society there, but that does not seem likely in the short term. President Bush is of the view that the US is making progress in Iraq and is playing an important role in trying to bring stability to that country. Deputy Higgins knows my view is that the Government did not support the war in its early stages because it did not have a UN mandate. Obviously, when the UN mandate came some time later, we supported the US position.

I met representatives of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform during my recent visit to the United States. The case of the undocumented Irish was one of the key issues I raised with President Bush, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Niall O'Dowd of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and our colleagues in both houses on Capitol Hill. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, keeps in touch with that campaign every week. We have received a great deal of support on this enormously difficult and complex issue, which affects 12 million people, of whom between 25,000 and 30,000 are Irish. The undocumented Irish do not present the biggest difficulty within the overall issue. We need to try to reach agreement or devise some legislative formula that can be moved forward.

Senator Edward Kennedy, who is the leading supporter of immigration reform, is hugely sympathetic to the Irish case. The Bill he is proposing was approved by the Senate judiciary committee last year. Everybody agrees that Senator Kennedy's Bill should be the starting point for a new means of addressing the issue legislatively. He is having direct conversations with President Bush, people on the other side of Congress and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Nancy Pelosi. We are supportive of this initiative and we hope it will be successful. It is an issue of timing. We have to leave it to Senator Kennedy and his supporters to decide when this Bill will be tabled. I suspect that it will be introduced in the next month or two. That will be an important step forward. The support of the White House is needed if this legislative change is to be made. We have the support of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. We certainly need the assistance of those who support Senator Kennedy, who is a senior Senator. A 60-40 vote in the Senate is needed, in effect, if this is to become a reality. Senator Kennedy is the only person who can get the necessary support on the Republican side of the house. The support of the President is also needed. We are trying to work with the three groups to get support for this measure and I think it is possible.

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