Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am glad to be able to speak on this issue and I am glad we have agreement on the motion. Many people in the United States are watching this debate at the moment on the Internet, listening to what we have to say and hoping we have something to say that will help in finding a solution to the problem. They do not want the kind of crocodile tears we have seen shed by many speakers. They have heard it all before. What people want from legislators and political leaders in Ireland are solutions. The goalposts have changed on this issue. Until a number of years ago we were trying to assist in the process of making the Irish case in the context of an overreaching immigration reform package led by Senators McCain and Kennedy. We wanted to support that process and use our Irish connections to make that happen because that would have provided an avenue for many Irish citizens to secure citizenship in the US, which they wanted an opportunity to secure. However, that opportunity is no longer available. The comprehensive reform package for immigration has been put on ice and it will not be examined or redrafted for some time. It is in that context that, as a Government and a Parliament, we need to find solutions for our people who look to us for leadership on this issue.

Only one person in this Parliament has the clout in Washington to make something happen on this issue. Delegations of backbench Members, junior Ministers and Members such as myself and Deputy Connaugton will travel to America, understand the issues and lobby for progress but that is the not the same as sending the Taoiseach, the leader of the country, to the US with a single mission to put together a resolution to this issue with key opinion formers and decision makers in the House of Representatives and Senate. November is the key month in Washington, as appropriation Bills are taken and Senators can do deals to secure add-ons to such Bills to make things happen. That is how the Australian deal was done but it was only done after the Australian Prime Minister travelled to Capitol Hill and found a champion to push the Australian cause on the issue. The Minster of State, Deputy Killeen, is correct that an Australian solution would not solve all our problems but the way in which it was achieved is the template for a resolution for undocumented Irish citizens in the US.

While I am pleased the House has agreed this motion, I am not pleased about what is happening in finding a resolution to this issue. We need to go to the US and our champion, who is probably Senator Kennedy, needs to be approached from the highest levels. The Taoiseach, rather than the Minister for Foreign Affairs, needs to travel and perhaps take Ian Paisley with him to seek a solution because 50% of the undocumented Irish in the US are from Northern Ireland. This issue must be put in the context of securing the peace process on this island by uniting communities on the other side of the Atlantic who set up there because of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. What a powerful message it would send to Washington if Ian Paisley and Bertie Ahern were to march into Senators' offices side by side on Capitol Hill seeking their help and asking them to be a champion for the Irish cause on this issue and to use appropriation Bills in November to achieve a solution. That is what is required. I hoped the Taoiseach would be present to make a contribution to this debate but, unfortunately, he is not even here to listen.

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