Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is correct. They have to be ratified. There is one particular issue around disputes that has yet to be resolved but I will check the position and revert to the Deputy.

I look forward to discussing trade policy with President Trump when he visits Ireland next week. I am a big believer in free trade and free enterprise. Free trade makes us better off in the round and has been very good for Ireland given the extent to which our economy and jobs are based on trade with other European Union countries, the United States and the wider world. As I understand it, President Trump's current focus is on China but there is a school of thought that he may move his focus towards the European Union later in the year. That is something that we need to be aware of. We will need to respond, as a Union of 28 members, to any aggressive action that may take place. When I meet President Trump I will once again make the case for free trade. Free trade between the US and EU makes us all better off in the round and creates more jobs in the round.

I will point out to him again that the relationship between the US and Ireland goes both ways. It is often seen as though it is only a one-way street, as it was decades ago, but that is not the case anymore. The US has a large surplus over us in respect of trade of services, while the inverse is true in respect of trade of merchandise. When the two are taken into account, it works out as approximately even, although often the White House takes only merchandise into account, which I think is flawed.

For investment, too, the relationship works both ways. There are now nearly 100,000 Americans in 50 states working in companies that are Irish and Irish owned but that is not always fully appreciated or well known. It was once very much a one-way street but it is now a two-way street. I will use the opportunity of our meeting at Shannon to emphasise that point and our support for free trade between the US and the EU, subject to environmental concerns, health and safety, employment rights and other standards, or what might be called the level playing field. I will also encourage the President to re-enter negotiations on what would be the largest trade deal ever, namely, between the US and the EU.

Climate change was not discussed with the congressional delegation, to my recollection. The focus was very much on Brexit, the Good Friday Agreement, immigration issues and trade. At the time, there was no indication of the visit of President Trump and, therefore, it was not discussed either.

On the issue of undocumented Irish citizens in the United States, we do not have an accurate figure for the number of people. Figures range between 10,000 or 15,000 and 50,000, although nobody knows for sure. I have met undocumented Irish citizens in the US on many occasions, on both official and personal visits, and I feel for them. Many of them are people who have set up businesses in the US, employ others, pay their taxes and obey the law but they are not able to return home for events such as family funerals. They fear that should they ever commit a minor offence, it could lead to their deportation and separation from their family. Most people who assess the situation believe that immigration reform to assist undocumented Irish people in the US can only happen on a comprehensive basis and that it would not be possible to have a pathway to citizenship for Irish people but not for people from Mexico, El Salvador or other parts of the world. I fully understand that view. We are not seeking, and have not sought, a special arrangement for Irish people. It can only be done in the context of wider immigration reform, which is very much what the Democrats in the US Congress have said to us. The E3 visa is separate and it would be for Ireland only. It would be available to Irish people who currently reside in Ireland to give them the opportunity to live and work in the US. Irish people often did that in the past but it is now very difficult. It would be a sort of modern version of the Morrison visa. Perhaps we will call it the Richard Neal visa if we get it over the line.

The Government has shown a good example on the issue. We should not be two-faced about it. There are undocumented people in Ireland, too, and we have introduced a scheme to regularise people who came from overseas on student visas and became undocumented for various reasons thereafter. It was an important step for us to take as a Government because we cannot go to the US and ask that people who went there on J1 visas and remain there many years later be regularised if we do not adopt a similar approach to people who came here on student visas, remained here, are law-abiding, work and pay their taxes. Perhaps we have given the US an example it could follow if it ever gets around to comprehensive immigration reform.

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