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

I am very aware this is not an easy nut to crack and that successive Governments and Ministers have tried to do so. In light of the most recent deportations from the United States, and the attack on sanctuary cities by President Trump and others in his Cabinet, the Irish community there, particularly those who are undocumented, are very fearful. I have welcomed the appointment of Deputy Deasy. He is a person with experience in the United States.

We must look at a fresh approach to this. We must put options and proposals to the US administration and look at it on a bilateral basis. These are measures we proposed previously when we were in Washington. We should not give up just because there is a new President who is on record as being very firmly against emigration. We need to redouble our efforts. I congratulate the new ambassador, H.E. Dan Mulhall, on his appointment to Washington DC, and I hope he will keep this at the top of his agenda. There must be a pathway to legal migration and we can find it. We are consistently told about the high standing Ireland has in the United States and we need to see some action in this regard. I hope the Department looks at a fresh approach and will give options to the US and proposals to its administration on how we might move towards resolving the matter.

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