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

All I can say is we want to try to do as much as possible to provide an avenue by which Irish people who want to travel to the United States can do so legally. It is really important that we continue a tradition that has been followed for many decades where there is a continuing flow of talented, bright, motivated young Irish people to the United States to be part of decision-making, politics and all of the other things in which Irish people are involved. That is in our interests and those of the many people who want to continue to do this by choice, rather than necessity. We also need to help the thousands of undocumented in the United States who are now living in a far more coarse political environment when it comes to immigration and feel a lot more vulnerable than in the past. However, we also have to be realistic about what is achievable. We have gone down the E-3 visa route to find a way of introducing legislation that could actually get a result for us in the short term. The United States has an arrangement with Australia whereby E-3 visas are provided for Australians who want to travel to the United States. Each year a quota is provided. In many cases, that quota is not used in full. Therefore, we are hoping to use visas that would otherwise not be used. In fact, it can be shown that they have not been used and it will be the following year when they could potentially be available for use by Irish people. I have been on Capitol Hill with Deputy Deasy. We have met people like Representative Paul Ryan, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Representative Richard Neal and many others from both parties to try to get this done in a sensible way.

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