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

For those in the House who are not familiar with it, the E3 Bill is essentially a provision that allows for a certain quota of visas to be provided for Australians every year.

However, each year a significant number of those visas are not used. What we were looking for, and what we had lobbied to try to achieve, was a system such that Ireland could potentially use the unused Australian visas the following year in order that there would be no question of our taking Australian visas, which would be reallocated to applicants from Ireland. The White House and the President's team have been hugely supportive in trying to get this legislation through. That goes right to the top, from my understanding, and we appreciate that. The Bill almost went through; one Senator prevented its passing. There are now efforts to try to ensure that it becomes law the second time around. That would open up for the first time in many years a new vehicle to facilitate young and not-so-young Irish people who want to go to work in the US under that structured scheme. It would be reciprocal because we would also facilitate US citizens coming here to work.

We have made a great deal of progress in this area. We have a lot of support, not only from the President and the White House but also from Democrats. That is why the Bill was almost passed a few months ago. We will continue to work with friends and partners in Congress to get it passed.

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