Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Did the Taoiseach have the opportunity to raise the plight of the 50,000 undocumented Irish during his visit to the United States? Did he have an opportunity to meet any of their representatives? President Trump has said that he wants Congress to pass an immigration reform Bill within six months. That provides opportunities, but it also provides serious threats. Everyone in this House is hoping for a sustainable solution to address the plight of the undocumented in America. Many of us have family members there and understand the difficult situation they have to go through and the missed opportunities back home. We also know people personally who have been deported recently. Has the Taoiseach discussed that? He needs to lead the way with robust lobbying and make sure that we seize the opportunities in terms of any future immigration reform Bill.

Has the Taoiseach considered the plan to bring forward a referendum on voting rights for citizens in the North and the Irish diaspora further? Is the Government still expecting that it will happen in mid-2019 or is it willing to expedite that?

The Taoiseach mentioned that he met Tim Cook and discussed the state aid ruling with him. Was the escrow account discussed? Has the money gone into the escrow account? Was the timeline for the case discussed? My information is that this could be heard as quickly as next year and that the court case could be in 2018. Was the fact discussed that the European Commission is now investigating the post-2015 structure of Apple to see whether state aid applies to that structure?

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