John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the Tánaiste's earlier response to Deputy Brendan Smith with regard to the best advice being that comprehensive legislation was the best way of securing a deal on the undocumented issue. I disagree with that. It has not been the only advice and in fact, the people who have been advising that this is not the best way of getting a deal for the Irish have been proven right, unfortunately, for the last 20 years. The problem is that there never has been a plan B put into operation either by this or the previous Government. In terms of emerging bipartisan support being encouraging, it is too early to say. I do not know if the Tánaiste is aware that over the weekend the White House leaked a draft bill on immigration reform but one of the critical Senators on the Republican side, Senator Rubio, said that if the draft arrived on Capitol Hill it would be dead on arrival. There have been a lot of false dawns. While we have made progress with regard to the E3 visa, as the Tánaiste has said, it will not cover the bulk of the undocumented Irish.

The Tánaiste said that he has talked with various Senators and will talk with others over the coming days. Who is he speaking to on the Republican side? The House of Representatives in the United States is held by the Republican Party.

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