Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

Like other Deputies I am delighted to have an opportunity to contribute to this debate because there is no doubt this issue affects every county, city, town and village right across the whole country. Deputies are aware that immigration reform is one of the most contentious and high profile political issues in the US. There are strong views on both sides of the argument not only in Congress and state legislatures but also in business, the trade union movement and US society in general.

On 17 May a bipartisan coalition of US Senators, including Senator Kennedy, reached what was characterised as a grand compromise on comprehensive immigration reform. However, regrettably it did not prove possible to move the Bill to a final vote on that occasion. Subsequently President Bush went to the Congress on 12 June to meet the Republican senators. Following that meeting he announced his support for a $4.4 billion initiative to strengthen border security. The Democratic leader in the Senate and his Republican counterpart then announced that the reform Bill would be brought back to the Senate floor. On 26 June the Senate voted to proceed with a debate on the Bill. We welcomed this as an encouraging advance. However, securing the necessary bipartisan consensus to deliver on this complex and diverse matter always constituted a considerable challenge. Unfortunately, as we now know, the compromise Bill failed to attract sufficient support.

This was a major disappointment and a setback for the thousands of undocumented Irish people in the United States and their families in Ireland. Given the present difficult and divided environment in Congress on immigration, it is now widely considered that such comprehensive legislation is unlikely to return to Congress in a meaningful way in advance of the next US presidential and congressional elections. In the aftermath of this disappointment, the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, made clear his determination to actively review the situation and explore possible alternative options, including bilateral arrangements.

In the months since the collapse of the comprehensive reform Bill the Department of Foreign Affairs and the embassy in Washington have been engaged in a wide range of consultations with congressional, administration and Irish community figures to assess how best to proceed. The Minister recently visited the United States to discuss the situation with senior members of the Administration and some of the key players in Congress. In this regard among those with whom he had meetings were the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, and Senators Edward Kennedy, Charles Schumer, Patrick Leahy and Lindsey Graham as well as the House of Representatives Friends of Ireland group. While they all emphasised the present difficult environment for making progress on immigration reform in Congress, they were very willing to work with us to explore further possible ways to resolve the position of our undocumented citizens. This work is being pursued by the ambassador and his staff in Washington and will be reviewed by the Minister on an ongoing basis.

The Minister had a detailed discussion on the matter with the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, and he had a meeting with members of our undocumented community in New York. Unfortunately Senator Kennedy has been ill and the meeting between the two Senators has yet to take place. While our embassy in Washington is in close contact with both offices, it reports it is too early to ascertain whether the proposal will gain traction.

Our sustained political contacts have been further strengthened by the mobilisation of the Irish community behind the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, a highly effective group which we are pleased to support, including financially. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York told Niall O'Dowd a number of weeks ago that he might be prepared to support legislation that would set aside several thousand working visas each year for Irish citizens, including the undocumented. He suggested the scheme also be made available to citizens of one or two Hispanic countries to avoid accusations that it was a deal for white Europeans only. Senator Schumer agreed to discuss the proposal with Senator Kennedy before deciding how best to proceed.

Since 11 September 2001, there has been a dramatic change in the security climate in the US. Tighter border security measures, being unable to travel home for fear of being refused re-entry and difficulties in obtaining licences all serve to increase the pressure on undocumented Irish who are effectively living in a kind of twilight zone. We do not want our people marginalised further. Together with their families here at home they are increasingly feeling the strain. Emigration always had a central place in the Irish experience and as a result we are so far removed from our past that we are willing to turn a blind eye to our young ones and emigrants who now find themselves in unfortunate and difficult circumstances. We have established a dedicated unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs focused entirely on matters related to the Irish abroad. It is helping to drive progress on this range of issues. A further reflection of the Government's commitment is clear from the substantially increased funding to groups supporting our vulnerable community abroad. Funding is now more than eight times greater than it was in 1997.

I wish to comment on what Deputy Breen said about President John F. Kennedy. If the same laws were in place when his ancestors moved to America many years ago as exist now he would never have become President of the United States and his brother would not be a Senator.

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