Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Smith for his support and encouragement on this issue. I join him in expressing thanks to the various organisations with which we work in helping Irish immigrants in the United States. They do great work and this work is co-ordinated closely with our embassy in Washington.

It is a difficult political issue. Immigration is a difficult political issue anywhere but it is a difficult political issue in the United States in particular. It seems to me that it is not sustainable not to have legislation to deal with the range of issues that touch on immigration, not least the fact that there is now such a large population, fully 11 million people, in the United States who are undocumented and who are, in practice, integrated into the United States community. These are people who have been there for 20 or 30 years and have children who are American citizens but yet are themselves liable to be deported.

Many are employed in the economy, in particular in sectors which are dependent on immigrant labour. It is not sustainable that this will not be addressed at some point by way of legislation, which everyone accepts. The question is when it is going to be done. That comes down to politics, which we all understand. We all understand that when there is a difficult political issue, people start to play to their own audience, base and supporters. The Deputy is right that there are some constituencies and districts in which immigration plays differently, but that is changing too. I have heard in the discussions I have had of areas where immigration used not to be an issue or, if it was, the issue was about not doing something. That is changing because of the composition of the population. I agree with the Deputy also that it is important not to raise expectations beyond what can be achieved. This has gone on for a very long time. There is a growing understanding in the political system, however, that this is an issue that must be addressed. The question is when. I would prefer to see it addressed quickly in the interests of the undocumented Irish who are there and also to get the E3 visa put in place. We are very much in the hands of the legislators on Capitol Hill who are in turn in the hands of their voters. There is another mid-term election in November.

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