Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Labour Party for the time allocated to me tonight and I commend the motion tabled by Fine Gael.

Emigration has been a feature of Irish life for generations. Very few Irish families have not been affected by emigration, with estimates indicating that more than 1.2 million people born in Ireland are living abroad. As the motion points out, there are thousands of Irish emigrants at present in the United States who have no legal status there. It is estimated that somewhere in the region of 50,000 Irish people in the US do not have legal status. That amounts to one third of all Irish-born persons living there. I do not believe there is a Deputy in the House who does not know someone who is affected by being undocumented in the US. While being undocumented may not, at first, be an issue, especially if a person only intends to stay for a short period, once roots are set down then he or she will run into enormous difficulties. This may relate to anything from a driving licence to getting married and having children. How many Irish go to America during the summer holidays? Young lads, in particular, go there to play football and stay. All those lads are at present undocumented. As a result, many people enter a twilight zone. Although they may be hard working and law abiding, in every other respect they are forced to live their lives as outlaws.

Families have been affected, where members living and settled in the United States have been unable to return to Ireland at times of serious family difficulty. The emigrants face the dilemma of damaging either the original family in Ireland or the new one in the US. Often two people without legal status are in a relationship which exacerbates the problem. For many years it appeared that the American authorities were prepared to be fairly lax in their approach to Irish immigrants. Often people were not only working, but paying tax. Of late, however, there have been several arrests. Some within Irish communities believe there is a deliberate campaign to target Irish immigrants and this has led to a good deal of fear.

Irish groups have also noted that while the numbers of young Irish arriving in the United States has fallen over the past decade and more, of late there have been signs that this trend is changing. This is possibly due to the less favourable economic climate in Ireland now compared to previous years. It is ironic that many of those leaving are taking up traditional work in construction and the bar trade that are increasingly being filled in this country by immigrants, many of who are exploited and forced to work for less than what Irish people consider to be a viable wage. All of us have experienced the displacement of Irish labour as a consequence, both internally in Ireland and as regards those forced to emigrate. Despite the numbers involved, there appears to be no sense of urgency on the issue from the Government.

Senator Schumer has come up with proposals on the issue that are supported by Irish groups in the US — which the Irish Government needs to be seen to support. I stress the Government needs to be seen to be actively behind this initiative. Unfortunately, some Irish in the US believe the Government here has been less than aggressive in pushing for this and has not put the necessary pressure on Capitol Hill. That contrasts with the attitude of the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who came to Washington to lobby on behalf of his citizens in the same position. On today's news I picked up the fact that this initiative has been successful. He went to Washington and lobbied hard on their behalf, with some success. That contrasts to the Government here which has not been forcefully exercising its prerogative in this regard.

The Government needs to ensure this becomes a priority and that the status of Irish people in the United States is secured. That can be linked to positive developments in the peace process here and the enormous fund of goodwill that exists towards Irish people in the US because of the significant contribution they have made to their adopted country, in every sphere. That is only part of the issue, however. The Government, by lobbying the US Administration to recognise the status of undocumented Irish immigrants, in a hypocritical fashion is still not addressing the issues in this State as regards the status of Irish citizens and their descendants who want to return to their homeland. That is despite the fact that Article 2 of the Constitution states:

...the Irish nation cherishes a special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.

Those who emigrated and their family members are being treated very shabbily when they want to return. The issue of returning emigrants being refused benefits under the habitual residency condition and the refusal to allow American spouses of Irish citizens the right to work and residency are creating severe hardship. There is even evidence that returning Irish are leaving this State in disgust at the treatment they and their families are receiving. Between May 2004 and April 2006, some 880 Irish people were refused social welfare payments because they did not meet the habitual residency condition. I have experienced many times the situation where returning emigrants have applied for planning permission on their family lands and been refused because they had not been resident here for a specified period of time. That is another form of discrimination which needs to be looked at and addressed.

The proposal to establish a new system governing visas between this country and the US is to be welcomed. Hopefully, this initiative will not only go a long way towards solving the dilemma faced by Irish people in the US, but also make it easier for US citizens to live and work in Ireland. This type of reciprocal action shows a measure of goodwill and is welcomed by the many Americans living in Ireland, many of whom have faced hardship because of the long waiting periods of residency and naturalisation.

The irony of all this is the refusal by the Government, while demanding regularisation and status for undocumented Irish, to consider a similar amnesty for undocumented migrants in Ireland. The Minister of State with responsibility for integration, Deputy Conor Lenihan, reiterated that position in his recent speech in the US: "You won't be seeing an amnesty in the near future. I believe it would possibly send the wrong signal." Does he not see the contradiction and hypocrisy in what he is saying? Does he not understand the message he is sending out in the United States as regards what he is prepared to do here and he expects the US to do in return?

It is about time the Government in Ireland stopped talking out of both sides of its mouth. If we are asking that Irish citizens be treated with respect in other states, which is only right and proper, then we must be prepared to treat immigrants with the same respect in this State and offer them parity of esteem.

On the question of families in limbo, national radio reported the case of a sister and brother living in New York who could not return home to Listowel for the funeral of one of their brothers who died tragically. The mother of the deceased was therefore unable to seek comfort from them. Such circumstances arise in many counties and not just in Kerry.

We need to mobilise all Irish Americans, of whom I am told there are up to 50 million, including people of influence, to work in conjunction with the Government to exert pressure and use their collective influence on the relevant authorities to resolve this problem. The onus is on the Government, in particular, to show leadership, grasp the nettle and make progress. I urge it to do so.

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