Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the news that US Vice President Joe Biden will arrive here in July. He is very proud of his Irish roots, which he traces to Mayo and to the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth. He is also very supportive and very proud of the role Irish America has played in the ongoing peace process.

It is also fitting that the Taoiseach attended a 1916 commemoration event in the US. The founding of the Irish Republican Brotherhood there, its fundraising efforts for rebellion in Ireland and the death and funeral of O'Donovan Rossa all made significant contributions to the Easter Rising of 1916. Tom Clarke, James Connolly and other signatories of the Proclamation also spent time in the USA. As we know, the Proclamation notes the support of our "exiled children in America", which is evidence of the important role of Irish America at that time and in our own time.

There would have been no 1916 Rising but for the contribution of Irish America and, arguably, there would have been no peace process were it not for the efforts of people there. It is important that the Government recognise the contribution of, and pays tribute to, Irish America.

One of the most important issues for Irish Americans is the plight of the undocumented. The Taoiseach has met many of them on his travels and I know that he is in regular contact with Mr. Ciaran Staunton from his own county. It is estimated that 500,000 people left this state in the past eight years, a mind-boggling number out of a population of less than 5 million. They did not just travel to the USA but also to Australia, Canada, Britain, elsewhere in Europe and Asia, but there are tens of thousands in the USA owing to the austerity policies. That is not new, as successive Governments have embraced emigration as a policy option.

It is believed there are 50,000 undocumented Irish in the USA illegally. Contrary to Government protestations, they did not go for the craic, as a lifestyle choice or for life experience. The majority went because they had no other option; they had no long-term employment prospects or meaningful work with proper terms and conditions. Many of them have families in the USA. They pay taxes and contribute positively to society there, but when there is a bereavement or a family event such as a christening or a wedding, they cannot return home. While they contribute significantly to the US economy and are generally recognised as model citizens, they are now part of the Skype generation. I have met them in the United States and have met their families here, not least in County Mayo. It was hoped President Obama's executive order would provide an opportunity for some of them to come out of the shadows to regularise and legalise their presence, but they continue to live idir eatarthu, between two worlds. Will the Taoiseach update us on discussions he or the Government has had with the US Government on this issue? President Obama's term concludes later this year. How hopeful is the Taoiseach that a satisfactory conclusion can be achieved before then?

The programme for Government refers to an historic opportunity to radically reform the political landscape and states the Government is "proposing substantive political and constitutional reform in order to create a strong responsive political system". The fifth report of the Constitutional Convention in November 2013 dealt with the question of amending the Constitution to give citizens outside the State the right to vote in presidential elections. I attended the session which was very informative. Video-conferencing was used to hear from representatives of the diaspora in the USA, France, Canada, Germany and England and the convention also heard directly from people living in the North. It voted in favour of changing the Constitution to give citizens resident outside the State the right to vote in presidential elections. This is a big issue for people living in the USA. Is the Taoiseach committed to implementing this recommendation of the convention which is now almost three years old?

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