Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I doubt it will be me going with the bowl of shamrock. The Department of Foreign Affairs has established Ireland houses in New York, Austin and San Francisco to allow for an impressive Team Ireland footprint. Several Irish State agencies, together with a consulate, can work together to maximise impact in a particular location. Plans are under way to open more Ireland houses in other US locations. The Deputy referred to the former Deputy, John Deasy, a colleague of mine from Waterford. I did not see the article but in fairness the last two years have been very challenging with Covid. America has had serious issues with Covid, as have we. Another Waterford man, Dan Mulhall, is the Irish ambassador to America. He is doing Trojan work and promotes Ireland constantly. Even just on his Twitter feed, he is constantly advocating for the Irish in America every single day.

Our embassy in Washington DC is actively engaged across the political spectrum in the US, meeting regularly with Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate on a bipartisan basis. The efforts of the embassy have been instrumental in ensuring consistent priority and support at the highest political level to protect peace on the island. The embassy also continues to work towards finding innovative solutions and immigration pathways to address the challenges faced by the undocumented Irish in the US. We have maintained strong relations with the US at every level over the past two challenging years. We must continue to prioritise our strong transatlantic connections, be they in business, academia, tourism or in maintaining family connections, as we emerge from the impact of the pandemic. I take the Deputy's point that this is a great opportunity as we move out of Covid and we will be able to continue those visits to America to support the undocumented.

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