Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I congratulate Deputy Ring on raising this matter and I acknowledge the support of the Minister for Foreign Affairs for this important issue. I welcome the fact that it has been identified as an area for potential all-Ireland co-operation, deserving inputs from the Government of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Executive.

Since the defeat of the McCain-Kennedy Bill on immigration reform, it has been clear that a bilateral agreement between the United States and Ireland is the only way forward in our efforts to resolve this issue and to set the tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants of Irish nationality on the road to legal status. It has been suggested that the bilateral agreement could follow the Australian E3 visa model. However, it is worth noting that this arrangement was moreor less related to free trade arrangementsbetween the United States and Australia, something that is not an option for Ireland as a party to the European Single Market. It also involved free trade in agriculture with the United States, which again is something to which we could not agree.

I do not see why a bilateral agreement of a similar or modified form, perhaps, could not be achieved. As Deputy Flanagan indicated, noting the Morrison and Donnelly visas, it certainly would not be the first time that special arrangements were put in place for Ireland. I echo and reiterate the calls by my party colleagues for a co-ordinated Government campaign at the highest level to secure a bilateral agreement, including, if necessary, the direct involvement of the Taoiseach. I also echo Deputy Deasy's suggestion that this should be done at a bipartisan interparliamentary level.

It is fair to say that nobody here is suggesting an amnesty. In most cases the undocumented Irish initially had legal status, arriving in the United States on temporary or student visas, but subsequently violating the terms of those visas and becoming illegal. What we are suggesting is a process to put them on the road to legality, not an amnesty as such. It is also important tonight to remember that Ireland has become a country of immigration, having known net emigration for years. More than 10% of the population are non-Irish citizens — the figure is more than 22% in my constituency. Most of these immigrants are EU citizens who benefit from the Four Freedoms. Many are asylum seekers, refugees, work permit and work visa holders, but a small number have come to Ireland from outside the EU on work permits or working visas which have expired and hence these have become illegal immigrants, or rather undocumented, as we would call them if they were Irish living in New York rather than Moldovan living in Cork.

If we are asking the United States to show leniency in dealing with the undocumented Irish in America, surely we should be prepared to show greater leniency in dealing with foreign nationals in good standing and with good character who have become undocumented in Ireland. Perhaps that issue might be approached on the same bipartisan basis as this motion.

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