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

To respond to Deputy Kelly, I want to put on record my view that successive ambassadors to the US have punched well above their weight. Our diplomatic performance in the US has continuously been at a very high level, and the current ambassador, Daniel Mulhall, has demonstrated great capacity on a number of fronts. Our diplomats have great experience and have developed significant contacts on both sides of the aisle, and we will continue to nurture those contacts.

Progress on the undocumented has been slow because of the changing composition of Congress and of the political circumstances in the United States. There has been the growth of the Latino power base, in particular, which has been proactive in monitoring any changes to the granting of visas to one ethnic group over another and, therefore, the challenge of getting consensus in the House of Representatives and the Senate, in particular, has been difficult. As far back as when I was Minister for Foreign Affairs, the position in respect of the progression of the E-3 visa was close, but not close enough. During Enda Kenny's time as Taoiseach, it came very close but lost by one vote, and that may have subsequently happened again. It has been very tight. I hope, in the first instance, that under the Biden presidency, a more humane approach will be taken to the undocumented generally, of all races and countries of origin, that sanctuary cities will be respected again, and that the sort of threat or the sense of impending intervention will not hang over the undocumented as much as it has in the past four years. As for the question of an envoy, I will keep the proposition under review as to whether it would add value to our diplomatic team. I will consider it and consult people about it.

Turning to Deputy McDonald's question, President-elect Biden has been a consistent supporter of the Good Friday Agreement and his comments in the past 24 hours bear witness to that. That is important. As I said earlier in response to Deputy Kelly, I believe there will be a more benign and humane Administration in respect of the migration issue, the undocumented and the progression of the E-3 visa issue. Our diplomatic team will work on this issue and engage with the new team appointed by President-elect Biden as soon as it takes office. We will engage with the team, as will I, and will continue to work with him on this issue. It is a very important issue for those who have been undocumented for quite a long time. The proposal being developed previously to link us to the Australian E-3 visa, was a good and innovative one and may yield results.

To respond to Deputy Barry, all countries have to have structured migration strategies and policies, and Ireland is no different. For those who have been undocumented long term, we have to find a solution and the programme for Government has commitments in respect of aspects of that. It is also important to be clear that, along with almost every country, there are a number of processes for migrating to Ireland and they have to continue and be managed in a humane and proper way. The current programme for Government, more than any other, is very committed to a radical reform of a range of provision in this area, from direct provision and minors who have come into the country unaccompanied to those who have been undocumented for quite a length of time.

As for Deputy Boyd Barrett's point about big pharma, governments throughout the world do not have the capacity to manufacture vaccines. People talk about big pharma, but the issue is that big pharma and pharmaceuticals in general are necessary. They need to be monitored, and there need to be proper health surveillance, authorisation and assessment of medicines by the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency, for example, at European level and the Food and Drug Administration in the US. Standing back, however, the capacity of companies to get to the stage where we now are, in terms of delivering vaccines-----

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