Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Over the years the amount of attention paid to the St. Patrick's Day visit to the United States keeps increasing without any obvious justification. I hope that the Taoiseach will have learned about appropriate language and about how our Head of Government should act when talking about our own public administration. While I do not agree that the Taoiseach should try to give a lecture to the US Government, it is important and it is the role of the Taoiseach to speak up for our values and to leave no one in any doubt about them. One does not get a sense that transpired on this occasion. On the issue of the undocumented Irish, the reality is that this is in an issue which is now being decided in the context of the overall immigration debate within the United States.

We have been searching for a bilateral deal for well over a decade but to no avail. Did the Taoiseach hear anything at any of his meetings, especially in respect of Congress, which would suggest a way forward or some degree of consensus emerging there?

Regarding Northern Ireland, the appointment of a special envoy is something we probably should have sought a number of years ago, once it became clear there were problems with the workings of the institutions. It is not immediately clear that the current Administration has access to the kind of people who could have an impact on a par with previous envoys. Will the Taoiseach tell us what was discussed on this matter?

It is welcome that the Trump Administration appears to have stepped back from initiating-----

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