Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There was one question asked by Deputy Mick Barry, that is, whether I have had contact with outgoing US President Barack Obama and, if not, my plans to do so before he relinquishes office. I have just listened to a seven-minute speech with no question at all.

I remind Deputy Barry that he is an Ohioan. He is living in Ireland and is an Irish citizen. He has freedom of movement in 28 countries in what he calls "Fortress Europe". He can travel to any one of the 28 with impunity. Maybe he does so.

It is business as usual today. The position now is that the new President-elect will take up office on 20 January and appoint a new Administration. I have pointed out to Deputy Adams issues that we regard as important and a priority in our continuing business with the United States. We have always had the support of the United States for the peace process in Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement and we have had continuous discussion on the rights of Irish men and women who happen to be undocumented in the United States. The latter has been a particular bone of contention for us for quite a number of years. We hope the people who voted in the United States have voted for a change of influence in terms of the Congress and Senate. Now that they will be controlled by the Republican Party, we hope they will put forward a comprehensive immigration Bill to deal with the undocumented Irish.

The Deputy seems not to accept the democratic result of the vote of the people of the United States. They voted by secret ballot and decided to elect Mr. Trump as their 45th President. He is to take office on 20 January 2017. I am not sure the Deputy is entitled to give out to the Americans about the decision they made. The Deputy is elected by people, and he is entitled to be. Everybody supports that democratic decision. However, if the Deputy wants to give out about the people in the United States, through AAA-PBP, he should go over to Ohio, start there and campaign strongly against what he believes to be a decision that is anti-democratic.

We will work with the new Administration, just as we have worked with all Administrations over the past 50 years, in the interest of developing economic and social links between Ireland and the United States. Circumstances are different from what they used to be. Although we relied for centuries on help from the United States, there are now 100,000 people employed by Irish-owned companies across 50 states. That is the kind of development we would like to see in the time ahead.

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