Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the contact made with the administration of the United States of America on behalf of undocumented Irish citizens resident in that country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7220/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Government attaches the highest priority to the issue of the undocumented Irish in the United States. In all our contacts with US political leaders, we emphasise the importance of addressing the situation in a positive and sympathetic way. In this regard we welcome the engagement of President Bush on this issue and his support for a humane approach which involves reform as well as enforcement. The Deputy can be assured that the Taoiseach and I look forward to discussing this issue when next we meet President Bush, hopefully over the St. Patrick's Day period.

In raising this matter with our US contacts, we appreciate that immigration is a highly sensitive and divisive issue. The current legislative debate in the US Congress involves differing approaches and strongly held opinions. Some members of the US Congress, for example, are opposed to any proposals which would allow undocumented people the opportunity to regularise their status. It is clear that achieving the necessary compromise remains a formidable challenge.

As the Deputy is aware, the US Senate has before it a number of proposals. Indications are that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary will discuss the immigration issue again in early March. The proposals before it include the Bill sponsored by Senators Kennedy and McCain as well as the Kyl-Cornyn Bill and a compromise text proposed by Senator Specter, chairman of the committee.

Deputies can be assured that in all my meetings with US contacts, including the Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and key congressional figures, I made known the support of the Government and the Oireachtas for the approach favoured by Senators Kennedy and McCain. Their Bill has also been strongly endorsed by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, a group established in December to mobilise grassroots support within the Irish community in the US for immigration reform. I welcome the establishment of this organisation. I encouraged the formation of such an organisation and recently approved a grant of €30,000 towards its operational expenses.

The Deputy can be assured the Government will continue to lobby intensively on this issue in the critical period ahead, again emphasising our strong support for the inclusion of the key elements of the Kennedy-McCain Bill in any final compromise legislation. I welcome and support the committee of the Houses that will shortly go to America. The Taoiseach and I will convey this view at the highest level in Washington over the St. Patrick's Day period.

Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister's approach to an issue of importance for thousands of Irish emigrants. I also welcome his support for the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Ms Sheila Gleeson attended the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday and outlined the range of activities of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres to counter the anti-immigration atmosphere, as she put it, post 9/11 and due to fears about job security and the erosion of working conditions in the US because of the large number of illegal immigrants.

Of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States of America, an estimated 50,000 are undocumented Irish citizens. We would be foolish to believe there would be special legislation to deal with them alone but I fully support the Minister's efforts to convince President Bush and leading politicians on Capitol Hill to give this matter their priority. However, I doubt the success of their efforts in light of the anti-immigration feeling.

That said, we have an obligation to pursue other avenues. In this context, has the Minister discussed the possibility of a bilateral agreement between the United States of America and Ireland? Would it comply with European Union law? If there is a potential to explore the possibility of a bilateral agreement, what are the Minister's views on it?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the support of the Deputy, his party and all Members of the House. It is important that an all-party and all-Oireachtas view be given on this issue. Our efforts are honed in on the legislation proceeding through the Congress. While we should not deviate, other issues and scenarios have been discussed. However, given the small window of opportunity on the legislation, we should not take our eye off the ball.

The US has a number of bilateral trade agreements with other countries. Tacked on to those, such as the US-Australia trade agreement, is an element of allowing people to enter the US but it does not take into account undocumented Australians already living in the US. Any effort we would make in respect of a bilateral agreement would not address the people we want it to deal with. The agreement may deal with other issues.

I recently met a congressional delegation including Congressman Jim Walsh. The Deputy may remember the recent major Irish-American separate agreement on immigration, the Walsh visa programme relating to the six Northern and six Border counties. That visa waiver programme has worked to a certain extent but not as well as it could have due to Ireland's economic climate. It does not address undocumented people in the US.

I asked our embassy and consulates in the US to treat this matter as an absolute priority and I assure the House we will continue to do so. While we will also examine other options, I strongly suggest we should continue our representations more or less exclusively in respect of the legislation going through the Congress.

Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I agree that we must not take our eye off the political ball. Like other political representatives, we must have another card to play in our pack. A bilateral agreement must be considered as a fall-back position in tandem with our efforts at political level to address this significant problem for 50,000 undocumented Irish citizens. Will the Minister have his officials examine this possibility while we are discussing what is happening on Capitol Hill?

I hope the Minister and the Taoiseach will impress upon President Bush that he must go further than his comments in his State of the Union address, which I considered somewhat of a retreat from his sentiments expressed in his 2005 State of the Union address. I hope that in an election year in the United States of America, the enthusiasm for justice for so many people who have contributed much to the development of the US but are living in fear day in day out is not eroded by the anti-immigrant feeling in southern California and the border states with Mexico.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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President Bush articulated the diverse views of the Congress on this matter. The legislative process has taken the road of a closed border issue and dealing with security. It is now recognised that the Congress will move into a position to try to regularise the 11 million or so undocumented people in the US.

I am not ruling out bilateral agreements. Those ideas are on our table and there have been some discussions with a number of people in the US on these issues. To ensure we get the best deal out of the legislation, I again emphasise that our efforts and those of the Irish political system should concentrate on the current proposals. If the legislation does not allow for a path to the permanent residency of undocumented people in the US in some way, it is my view the legislation would be deficient as millions of undocumented people would not come out of the woodwork to apply under it for fear that, in three or six years' time, hands would land on shoulders and they would be told to go back to where they came from. If such legislation is introduced, it will only push the problem down the line for three or six years. There must be some element of a path to permanent residency included in the legislation.

The potential of a bilateral agreement depends on the goodwill between this country and the US. The opinion in Irish-American circles, and in broader circles, is that Ireland takes a negative view of American interests. This is something we must deal with as we go, cap in hand, to ask them to change legislation to suit Irish people in America.