James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this cross-party motion. In particular, I thank my colleague, Deputy Michael Ring, for tabling it. As the instigator of this important initiative, he has the gratitude not only of the Members of this House but of the thousands of undocumented Irish in the United States and indeed their families here at home.

I have raised this issue on many occasions over the past five years, most recently in June when I tabled a question on the measures to be taken in the light of the Senate reforms. In reply, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said that only a bipartisan solution could succeed in reforming the US immigration system. I truly believe that the bipartisan approach taken yesterday in this House is the key opening move on the road to success for our citizens in the US whose well-being is in all our hands. For the 50,000 of undocumented Irish living in the US success in this regard is needed for their sakes sooner rather than later. The statistics for the past couple of years are worrying, with a small but significant decrease in the number of green cards Ireland received in 2006 — 1,906 as opposed to 2,083 in 2005, and 54 lottery visas as opposed to 76 in 2005.

America has a long history of welcoming immigrants of all types, sometimes even illegal and undocumented persons. This welcoming philosophy is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in the immortal words which invite the world to "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses learning to breathe free." American immigration has the appearance of being fair and reasonable and indeed is highly regulated on paper, but the reality, as many Irish emigrants know to their cost, is very different. A climate exists whereby immigrants are forced to go underground. This is something we need to address and, like the other speakers on this side of the House, I hope that the Taoiseach will get off his butt and go to the US to deal with this issue.

See this speech in context