Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste. We are all aware this is a long-running issue and there has not been any significant progress. We saw during the summer that a number of raids were carried out in the United States, which terrified Irish communities. Obviously, Irish man, Keith Byrne, was at the centre of one of those raids, which showed the vulnerability of Irish people living in the United States without documentation. It has to be a priority to keep this at the top of the agenda, which is why I am raising it here on behalf of Fianna Fáil. There needs to be a legal pathway to regularise the status of Irish people living there without documentation. We also need to step up our engagement in the United States with organisations that support the Irish across the states.

The Tánaiste mentioned that the Taoiseach has raised this with President Trump and that the Tánaiste himself raised it with Vice President Pence, whom he met at Shannon Airport. Can he tell us exactly what the Vice President said or what indications he gave? When he was here, he made a big play in regard to his own Irish heritage.

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