Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I wish to ask three questions. I am acutely aware of the complexity of the whole immigration business and agree it will not be possible to address it unless there is all-round agreement on both sides. I received a letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated 29 January, in which he said that on the ground in Washington on a daily basis the ambassador and the personnel there are in discussion with Congressional members, Senator Schumer, Kennedy and so on, in respect of arrangements for a bilateral agreement, following the unanimous decision of the Dáil. I understand the difficulties associated with that. In regard to the bilateral proposal being followed through by the Government here, is that a bilateral agreement on the basis of all Ireland, North and South, because obviously the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly are interested in this also? If one follows through the bilateral agreement it should be on an island basis because the next 25 to 50 years will require that type of linkage both ways, to the island of Ireland and the US, if we are to compete with the challenges from other locations around the world and keep that flexibility of Ireland and America alive. Is it being followed on that basis?

I appreciate that the Government and the Department make money available to some extent for looking after Irish people in the US. I make a plea to the Taoiseach to look particularly at the elderly Irish who live in some of the major cities such as New York and other locations where they find themselves in fixed rented accommodation for a long period. Many of these tenement quarters have been taken over by particular nationalities. In the middle of all this there may well be an elderly Irish person who is isolated, lonely and alone but looked after to some extent by the voluntary organisations there. These organisations have a database available and they make good use of the money the Government makes available to them. In his address to both Houses I ask him to recall these people who worked hard when times were difficult and played their part in building up the economy of the United States. We should try not to forget them in that context. I appreciate the fact that money is given but whether it is spent to best effect is the issue.

Given the economic challenges the world faces and that we as a consequence face, I ask the Taoiseach to look at the question of closer relationships with universities, technological centres and business in the US. I welcome yesterday's announcement in respect of Shannon. Our university sector, our institute of technology sector and our business sector need to develop stronger linkages with those sectors in the US, out of which will come new research and development and new jobs.

See this speech in context