Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is something I will return to on a regular basis. It appears that the Obama plan is dead. Even if the federal courts rule on it shortly, it will still require legislation in Congress. There will be a presidential election in November and there will be a change of president at that stage. I ask the Department to look seriously at improving reciprocal arrangements for US citizens coming to Ireland. We may have to be selfish about this and not pool our Irish citizens in with other undocumented citizens from other nationalities. We should look at improving visa arrangements for US citizens coming and working in Ireland because there are difficulties there from time to time. We should look at a reciprocal arrangement and what we can give. We are a big trading partner of the US, but it works both ways. We are its tenth biggest trading partner in terms of Irish investment in the US so it is not us coming cap in hand. I ask the Minister to keep it on the agenda and look at improved reciprocal arrangements and a bilateral deal where possible.

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