Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Ring, on introducing this timely motion. I also congratulate the Government on accepting the need for consensus on this issue. This is a difficult time for the friends and family of Irish people who are living in the United States, in places like Dorchester and Brighton in Boston; and Yonkers and The Bronx in New York. I have spent time in Upper Darby in Philadelphia. Undocumented Irish are also found on the west coast, in places like San Francisco, and as far north as Chicago. For the first time, these people are living in fear. In the 1980s, they saw the cities I have mentioned as places of affluence and opportunity, but they have told me they now associate them with fear. I receive text messages and e-mails to that effect on a daily basis.

I heard today that ten undocumented Irish people are being kept in detention centres after being lifted by US security personnel at train stations 150 miles from the Canadian border. The people in question did not even go near the border. Legislators on both sides of this House have to stand up and be counted as we try to assist Irish people who are living in fear. As Deputy Ring said, if a deputation is to be sent to the US, it should include Dr. Ian Paisley and Mr. Martin McGuinness so we can demonstrate our collective opinion that this is a serious problem.

We all heard about the good stories and the opportunities which were available in the US between the 1950s and the 1980s. The stories we are hearing now should make us sick. The undocumented Irish in the US are afraid to be part of this campaign. Their fear of being deported is making them afraid to show their hand. This is something we should not allow to happen. If a new visa programme is to be established, our immediate concern should be for the people to whom I have referred. We have to find a means of ensuring they are not prevented from coming forward by their fear of being deported. I encounter that sentiment frequently when I communicate with people throughout the US.

Ireland has a rich experience of mutual co-operation with the US on serious problems like Northern Ireland. When consensus was reached on the Good Friday Agreement, there was collective goodwill on both sides of the Border. In this instance, there is collective goodwill on both sides of the Atlantic. My Fine Gael colleagues have spent time in the US talking to Senators, Congressmen and legislators who have an equal desire to do something about this problem. We do not have to play hardball. The Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Tánaiste do not have to play hardball on this issue. They have to show goodwill, courage and short-term thinking so that progress can be made sooner rather than later.

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