Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a formal reply to Deputy Smith's question which is identical to the replied to Question No. 1. If it is okay I will take that as read and simply answer the question. The direct answer to the question is that I am more hopeful than I was a month ago. When the Republican majority leader lost in the primary election, there was a good deal of speculation that it was directly related to the immigration issue. I feared that this would play negatively in the politics in the US Congress. In fact, when I visited Congress I was very encouraged by the clear statements from both sides of the political divide to the effect that they want to do this and that there is a necessity to legislate to deal with immigration. The question is when that will be done. One of the problems in the politics of Capitol Hill is that there is never a good time to do it. There is always another issue, such as a row over the budget, which is what happened last year. The issue most directly impacting on it now is the fact that large numbers of children are being moved across the Mexican border. They are unaccompanied and there are allegations of some rather unpleasant people being involved in the movement of these children. This is playing as a big issue in public discussion and the media in the United States and, therefore, it is difficult for legislators to address the necessary legislation in that environment. That is the immediate issue.

I believe there is a desire, a wish and a will to undertake immigration legislation and to get the issue dealt with for political, economic and security reasons as well as for various other reasons. The issue is when this is going to be done. We have continued to keep the pressure on and keep dialogue and discussion open with people on both sides of the political divide and that work will continue. I am more optimistic than I was a month ago.

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