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

We consistently raised the issue of the undocumented with the President and with many political leaders in the US. I was somewhat taken aback by Deputy Ó Broin's use of the word "shallow". This has been a consistent approach by the Irish Government with different levels of the American Administration to get a change in what is fundamentally a policy issue for Capitol Hill, for Congress and for the Executive. Over the years we have sought an Irish-specific visa scheme. The bipartisan reintroduction of the E-3 visa Bill in Washington in mid-March was a very welcome development. That is something we will be keeping a very watchful eye on to see if we can, in that context, deal with some of the issues pertaining to the undocumented.

Through my own political career I have been very anxious to create legal channels for migration between Ireland and the United States, given our historic friendship. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, I was involved in agreeing the working holiday authorisation agreement between the US and Ireland, which resumed on 1 November last year. The J1 programme has been a tremendously successful part of the Irish-US bilateral relationship, with 150,000 Irish third level students and young people having participated in the programme over the past 50 years.

I raised the issue of the undocumented with President Biden. He has demonstrated his commitment to immigration issues, including possible pathways to citizenship for the undocumented, in his U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. Our embassy in Washington and the network of consulates across the US continue to engage with political leaders from both side of the aisle and at all levels to see if we can get an innovative solution to address the legal issues facing the Irish undocumented in the US. However, in recent times those on the Hill have not looked specifically at one country or ethnic group alone. They tend to want a comprehensive solution. There has been significant opposition to migration and immigration reform in the US. Our emigrant support programme penetrates very deeply and engages with many Irish and diaspora organisations in the US for a range of projects. When I visited New York in September, I saw great evidence of that and met all the groups involved. I went to the New York Irish Arts Center, which we have been supporting since 2008. I was involved in initiating Irish grant aid towards the Irish Arts Center, which has now been dedicated and will provide a wonderful forum for Irish and Irish-American art, drama and theatre and so forth.

Regarding the points raised by Deputies Boyd Barrett and Paul Murphy, I would agree with Deputy Haughey that President Biden is correct in identifying a growing number of authoritarian regimes that are out to undermine democracy. I do not believe America is out to undermine democracy. I do not see America as an imperial power in the sense Deputy Paul Murphy does. In the middle of a war, when the Russian Federation has launched a very immoral and unjustifiable war on Ukraine, the US is doing everything it possibly can to defend the people of Ukraine and to give measured and balanced leadership in respect of that.

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