Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

I wish to associate myself with the complimentary comments made by Deputy Gilmore with regard to the Taoiseach's visit to the United States.

Undocumented Irish people from every county in the country are virtually in limbo in the United States. Some people who went there during the previous recession in the 1980s have not been back here since. Since many of those young people left, they have suffered family bereavements but have been unable to return home because of the fear of not being able to return to the United States. Many of them have, effectively, settled in the United States. Can anything practical be done for these people, particularly those who have been bereaved during this period or those who have been there since the 1980s?

With regard to the Middle East, did the Taoiseach have any discussions with President Barack Obama with regard to the disgust and abhorrence felt by the Irish people during the siege of Gaza, the continuing situation there and the actions carried out before the Israeli election when over 1,300 people were killed in Gaza, many of them by phosphorus bombs that are, apparently, illegal for use against civilian targets? If he did, what was President Obama's response.

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