Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We got a very warm reception on Capitol Hill on this issue. We met Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, a series of Congressmen and a number of Senators who have been great friends of Ireland for many years. We have been working with Senator Billy Lawless, who is deeply involved in this issue. We are all looking to try to find ways in which we can progress this issue given the political landscape that exists at present in terms of legislative opportunities that may be coming. It is not straightforward, as the Deputy has outlined. Politics in Washington are deeply divided now and it is difficult to get bipartisan agreement on anything, never mind immigration reform. We will continue to look at this issue. Deputy John Deasy is specifically looking at it and nothing else in the context of his work in the US, and he is building contacts and friendships with people who want to help. The question is how to get it across the line in the context of the broader debates on immigration and some of the issues being dealt with on Capitol Hill at present. We will continue to prioritise it, and I am sure I will be back in Washington again in the coming months.

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