Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The second issue is not the subject of the question. My Department and the embassy are working on it with the US Administration and I am hopeful we will have a satisfactory conclusion. With regard to the main issue of immigration reform, across the political spectrum in the US it is accepted that there must be legislation on immigration. We cannot have a situation where 11 million undocumented people are in the United States, many of whom work in various areas of the economy.

There is also a economic driver in respect of this issue in some areas of the American economy, such as agriculture, for example. Farm work is heavily dependent on immigrant labour. Obviously, there are issues in respect of security and so on and everybody accepts that this is going to have to be done. However, there is a question of political will and that is a matter for the United States Legislature. We will continue to remain in close contact with key figures in that Legislature. It is far more a case now of when, rather than if, there will be immigration legislation in the United States.

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