Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to make a statement under Standing Order 45.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the House on the matter of the executive order signed by US President Donald J. Trump on 27 January 2017. In particular, I wish to make clear the Government's position on the following three issues: the executive order, the operation of pre-clearance facilities at both Dublin and Shannon airports, and Ireland's relationship in broader terms with the United States of America.

The Government's position on this matter is clear and was set out in my press statement of 29 January 2017, immediately prior to my visit to Washington, D.C., from 31 January to 2 February. As I noted in that statement, while US immigration policy is a matter for the US authorities, it is clear that the executive order signed by President Trump on 27 January could have far-reaching implications, both on humanitarian grounds and for relations between the US and the global Muslim community. I further noted that the Government fully shares the concerns expressed by other EU partners regarding this development.

Alongside these concerns, a question arose about the possible effects on dual nationals. On 31 January 2017, the US authorities issued a clarification, which was also publicised by the US Embassy in Dublin. This noted that the executive order in question does not restrict the travel of dual nationals to the US so long as they hold the passport of an unrestricted country and possess a valid US visa, if required. This means that Irish citizens travelling to the US on Irish passports should encounter no difficulties in this regard as long as they have followed the relevant procedures governing the US visa waiver programme and, if necessary, have obtained a US visa prior to travel. I wish to underline that Irish citizens who are dual nationals of one of the seven states listed in the executive order of 27 January have the same rights to avail of the US visa waiver programme as all other Irish citizens. A total of 5,003 certificates of naturalisation were issued in the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2016 to citizens of the seven states concerned. Around 8,000 current Irish passport holders were born in one of these seven countries.

As the House will be aware, I visited the US from 31 January to 2 February 2017 as part of a pre-planned visit to Washington, D.C. I had a number of meetings with several congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle - that is, both Republican and Democrat - including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Paul Ryan; the House Majority Leader, Mr. Kevin McCarthy; and the House Minority Leader, Ms Nancy Pelosi.

I also travelled to the White House, where I met with representatives of the US Administration, including the former US National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn. During my meeting with General Flynn, I expressed the Government's deep concern regarding the nature and impact of the executive order of 27 January. In response, General Flynn outlined the rationale, in US immigration terms, for these temporary measures. I also pointed out to General Flynn the damaging consequences of these measures in humanitarian terms, as well as the impact on the international reputation of the USA. I reiterated these views and concerns at my various meetings on Capitol Hill.

As the House will no doubt be aware, in recent days the US courts have intervened and imposed a temporary suspension on the implementation of the executive order of 27 January. It would not be appropriate for me to comment further on this matter, which is still the subject of legal proceedings in the United States.

I will now turn my attention to pre-clearance facilities at Dublin and Shannon airports. In the context of discussions about the executive order in Ireland, the issue of pre-clearance facilities at both Dublin and Shannon airports arose. The matter was discussed at Cabinet and the Taoiseach requested that a review of pre-clearance be carried out. This review, which is being chaired by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, involves officials from the Departments of the Taoiseach, Justice and Equality and Foreign Affairs and Trade. I understand that the review is very close to completion. However, I would like to clarify the facts regarding a number of questions that arose about pre-clearance facilities. The US-Ireland pre-clearance agreement was signed by the then Minister for Transport and the Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security on 17 November 2008 and given effect in Irish law on 8 July 2009 by the Aviation (Preclearance) Act 2009 (No. 16 of 2009). The US, Ireland pre-clearance agreement states that nothing therein diminishes the rights enjoyed by individuals under the Constitution and laws of Ireland or, where applicable, the United States of America. It expressly states that the pre-clearance facility is within Irish jurisdiction and that the laws of Ireland apply at all times. US pre-clearance officers are not considered law enforcement officers. The only law enforcement officers at Irish airports are members of An Garda Síochána and customs officers. From an operational perspective, facilities are provided to US border and customs staff to operate the facility and normal Garda assistance is available to passengers and US staff in these areas.

Passengers who wish to avail of pre-clearance do so on condition that they recognise and consent to the right of the US to grant or refuse pre-clearance in accordance with its laws. Passengers present voluntarily for pre-clearance and avail of the facility on a consensual basis. Until their flights depart, passengers remain in Irish legal jurisdiction and have the right to withdraw from the pre-clearance process at any time. If an individual is refused leave to board, he or she reverts to the Garda immigration officer and is considered in the same manner as if he or she had presented at the frontier of the State seeking permission to enter. Each case is examined on its own individual merits, in accordance with Irish law. The existence of pre-clearance facilities, therefore, has no effect on the capacity of persons to claim asylum in Ireland or on the way such individuals are treated. I would like to remind the House that pre-clearance of flights from Dublin or Shannon bound for destinations in the United States is not a compulsory regime. Air carriers choose to apply to have their services pre-cleared in either Dublin or Shannon..

It is important to have clear factual information about pre-clearance in the public domain given its considerable benefits for Ireland. Shannon Airport was the first airport in the world outside the Americas to offer a US pre-clearance facility. Over 204,000 passengers used the pre-clearance facility at Shannon in 2016. Pre-clearance is a major selling point for the airport’s business and tourism customers, supporting transatlantic connectivity for its catchment area along the entire western seaboard from Donegal to Kerry and also serving the midland counties. During 2016, almost 1.2 million passengers used the pre-clearance facility at Dublin Airport. Dublin Airport has seen continuous growth in transatlantic flights since the commencement of pre-clearance in 2011. Pre-clearance has been a key driver of transfer growth at Dublin Airport. Dublin Airport is the fifth busiest airport for connectivity to North America in Europe, behind Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Schiphol. The availability of pre-clearance facilities at both Dublin and Shannon airports is a key component of Ireland’s continued competitiveness in attracting US foreign direct investment and Ireland’s position as a gateway to the wider EU Single Market. It is worth noting in this context that the US is currently expanding the pre-clearance programme, with ten airports short listed as potential sites.

I will now deal briefly with the broader issue of relations between Ireland and the United States. The Government’s priority is to ensure that the long-standing and warm relationship between Ireland and the US is protected in the interests of Irish citizens on both sides of the Atlantic. Our relationship is complex and multi-layered and is based on shared values, as well as our deep political, historic and economic ties. In economic terms alone over 150,000 people are directly employed in over 700 US firms in Ireland and these account for over 74 % of all IDA Ireland-supported employment. In addition, Irish companies directly employ over 120,000 people in 227 companies at over 2,600 locations in all 50 states across the USA. US firms in Ireland form a critical part of Ireland’s cutting edge, internationally traded goods and services economy in industries such as information and communications technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies and financial services.

As a Government, we have a responsibility to protect and advance the interests of our country and our people. As the House will be aware, the Taoiseach was the first EU Head of State or Government to speak to then President-elect Trump immediately following his election on 8 November last. The Taoiseach also spoke to then Vice President-elect Pence, who has strong links with Ireland. Separately, I spoke to Mr. Paul Ryan following his re-confirmation as Speaker of the House of Representatives in November. Following the US presidential elections, there was some public debate about St. Patrick’s Day events, specifically those in Washington DC. Collectively, the St. Patrick’s Day events in Washington provide invaluable opportunities for the Government to discuss, at the very highest levels with the US Administration, its concerns, priorities and interests. It is also an opportunity to inform the new administration and the US Congress of issues of Irish interest, including immigration reform and the peace process and to reaffirm our long-standing relationship which is based on shared values of democracy and the rule of law, as well as our long-standing historical and economic ties. St Patrick’s Day offers the Government the opportunity, in a spirit of honest friendship, to raise its concerns with the US administration as well as to honour the long-standing relationship between our two countries and peoples. The tradition dates back several decades and has facilitated contact with both Republican and Democrat administrations. It is a key date each year in our multifaceted bilateral relations. Indeed, President Trump, Vice President Pence and Speaker Paul Ryan have all indicated that they wish to continue with the tradition of marking St. Patrick’s Day in Washington, DC.

As I have already noted, I visited Washington from 31 January to 2 February last and met Speaker Paul Ryan, house majority leader Kevin McCarthy and house minority leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as a large number of members of Congress and representatives of the administration. Our ongoing engagement with US political leaders from both sides of the aisle is essential in advocating on issues of interest or concern to the Irish people and I would like to publicly thank the Congressional Friends of Ireland for its ongoing commitment to our country.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I am acutely conscious of the challenges facing the undocumented Irish in the United States. Achieving relief for undocumented Irish migrants in the US and reaching agreement on a facility for future migration between Ireland and the US are long-standing Government objectives. The undocumented Irish in the United States are believed to number around 50,000 individuals, spread across the US, in each state. My Department has and will continue to seek practical, beneficial solutions to the plight of the undocumented Irish. The Government will also continue to support organisations that deliver front-line advisory services and community care to Irish emigrants through the emigrant support programme. In this regard, I wish to acknowledge the leadership and ongoing commitment of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, who has specific responsibility for the diaspora. Many emigrants to the United States achieve great success but many others can find themselves in vulnerable circumstances. More than 70% of the funds allocated through this programme are directed towards welfare services, including in support of the undocumented Irish In the US. In the last funding round for the emigrant support programme, my Department was able to allocate more than € 2.3 million to organisations in the United States. I have visited immigration centres and know that this funding makes a valuable contribution to vulnerable Irish citizens far from home and their family networks. I commend the ongoing work of the Minister of State in that regard.

During my recent visit to Washington, I had an opportunity to be fully briefed by our ambassador to the United States, H.E. Anne Anderson, and her colleagues at our embassy on a range of issues of importance in our bilateral relations with the United States, including immigration reform. Indeed, my officials regularly update me on this priority issue for the Irish Government, which the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, and I, along with all of our Government colleagues, are dedicated to progressing with a view to reaching a satisfactory conclusion.

Our embassy in Washington and consulates across the United States remain in active and ongoing contact with Irish immigration centres throughout the US. The Irish ambassador to the US, Anne Anderson, hosted a meeting of stakeholders in the area of immigration at the Irish Embassy on 12 January 2017 for an exchange of views on how progress might best be made in the context of the new political administration, and to underline the Government’s continuing commitment to those working with Irish immigrants in the United States.

For me and the Government, the bottom line is that it is only by continuing to engage with policy-makers in the US - in the Administration and in Congress, as well as at State and local level - that we can articulate our concerns and seek to advance the interests of Irish citizens, whether it be with regard to the recent executive order or concerning the need for immigration reform. As a Government we are determined to use every opportunity to set out our priorities on a broad range of issues, in the interests of our people, and on the values which both Ireland and the US share across a number of pursuits.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. He has impeccable timekeeping.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for outlining the Government position. It is useful to have these statements here today. I will move on to the content of the Minister's contribution shortly, but I first want to point out that it is unfortunate we are not actually debating a motion today. Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil had submitted a motion that was agreed. I know the Government and most of the other parties in the Dáil - the Green Party, the Labour Party and Fine Gael - had attempted to do that in order for the Dáil to speak as one voice. I wish to put on the record that misinformation was given in the Dáil last week by Deputy Ruth Coppinger of the AAA-PBP, that it was all of us who had in some way stopped this motion being put forward. In truth it was the six AAA-PBP Members who would not agree to a cross-party motion because they felt they would reserve the right to amend the motion at any stage. That is the reality and that is why this morning we are making statements as opposed to actually dealing with a motion where the House could have spoken with one voice.

I thank the Minister for his contribution this morning and the detail therein, very little of which I would disagree with. The Government's approach to the controversy around the executive order has been very well handled and well considered. Fianna Fáil is completely opposed to the executive order that was issued by President Donald Trump, which includes the 90 day travel ban by people from seven Muslim majority countries, the 120 day freeze on admission of any refugees into the United States and an indefinite halt to admitting any refugees from Syria. As I have said, Fianna Fáil and our colleagues in Sinn Féin have put forward a detailed motion condemning the executive order and asking the Government to convey these concerns and to write formally to the US President seeking its repeal. We feel the ban is morally wrong, discriminatory and prejudiced.

While we are opposed to the executive order, we are fully committed to maintaining our pre-clearance capabilities and our diplomatic relations between Ireland and the US, and to continue in improving them. Pre-clearance, as we know, is carried out by US authorities in Dublin and Shannon airports. I am very familiar with the Dublin Airport pre-clearance facility in my constituency and the importance of it since 2009. It is of great benefit to Ireland in improving investment and travel between both countries. Nothing should be done by this House, this Government or any Member to put that facility at risk. The pre-clearance facilities, I have no doubt, underpin many hundreds, or thousands of jobs in this State and in America. Rejecting this facility, as some in this House have called for, would only serve to make travel between Ireland and the US more difficult and would be a premature reaction; it is simply a reaction from some.

Our job is to try to convince the United States and the new US Administration that we have a long-standing, friendly relationship with the US and to try to convince it, in diplomatic terms, of the error of their ways with this executive order. It is only right and proper that the Minister raised the issue at his numerous meetings. With General Michael Flynn departing the stage the Minister will have a new US Secretary of State to deal with shortly but it is important that we do speak loudly, in a respectful way, as friends to the United States. When we do not agree with something we should say it. I am glad the Minister has done so in Washington, DC at various high level meetings. I ask the Taoiseach - directly through the Minister - that in his discussions with President Trump on St. Patrick's Day the matter is raised directly with him and not just with his officials. It is important. Our deep relationship with America is longstanding and unique. Many people claim unique relations with countries and I believe that the Ireland-America relationship is unique and America will know that Ireland's views, and any criticisms that we have, are meant in the best possible way.

While the travel ban has been suspended and overturned in courts in the United States, we should also mention to the US Administration that as it is party to the Geneva Convention we believe that the ban, refusing entry and sending people back, contravenes Article 33 of the Geneva Convention that says: "No Contracting State shall expel or return ... a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion." That is very clear and it is why I do not believe that the executive order stacks up in US law or international law.

There was much debate, as the Minister has alluded to, as to whether or not the Taoiseach should still travel to the White House on St. Patrick's Day and I want it on the record of the House that Fianna Fáil firmly believes the Taoiseach should travel to the White House on St. Patrick's Day. This visit is more than a photo opportunity, as some people feel. It is an opportunity to meet and engage with the new US President and his Administration and it is of major strategic importance to Ireland. Maintaining professional relationships with the governments of other countries is central to Ireland's industrial, cultural, economic and diplomatic policies. The upcoming visit to Washington, DC should be used as an opportunity to press President Trump on the plight of the undocumented Irish people in the US. The visit can be used to explain in clear terms the mutual advantage to both our countries of the presence of US companies operating in Ireland, employing thousands of people here and - as the Minister has outlined - of Irish companies operating in the United States that employ thousands of US citizens in America. This is the type of partnership relationship that I would like to see us evolve further. It is not us, as a junior partner in a relationship, asking the United States. I believe that Ireland, with Irish companies in the US, is the 11th biggest investor in the United States and we are also a significant market for the US. Ireland is a significant springboard for the US into the European Union. That partnership approach into the future is the way we should be dealing with and working with the new US Administration. When people are partners and adult it means that we can criticise each other and say when it is that we are not happy or when we believe an administration is going down the wrong road, as it is now with this executive order. Can one imagine the reaction in America, and what an insult it would be, if this Government and the Taoiseach actually followed the line that some Members of this House wanted, by refusing the invitation and by not travelling to Washington on St. Patrick's Day? Maybe people want it to be an insult to President Trump, and I personally would not agree with many of his policies-----

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Which policies would the Deputy support?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I would say to Deputy Ryan that it would be very easy, and childish, if Ireland were to say that its Head of State is not going to visit Washington on St. Patrick's Day-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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He is Head of Government, not Head of State.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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This arrangement has been in place for decades and I ask Deputy Ryan what message it would send to the American people-----

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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That we stand up for certain principles.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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What message would it send to the American people?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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That Ireland is a decent country.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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It is all very well to say that we would send a clear message to President Trump, but what message would it actually send to the American people, to the near 40 million people in America who claim Irish descent and Irish heritage?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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They would be proud.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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What message would it send and what effect would it have on the 50,000 undocumented Irish in America and their plight if this Government and future governments took that position?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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They are hostages.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Howlin knows this from his time in Cabinet. There is no way on earth he would have suggested to the Taoiseach 12 months ago that the Taoiseach should not to travel to Washington D.C. on St. Patrick's Day. To say anything otherwise is ridiculous and is pushing the bounds of reality. Deputy Howlin would not have done it and neither would Deputy Eamon Ryan had he been sitting at the Cabinet table.

There is a reality that we have to deal with. This has a long-standing effect. I do not like the executive order. I condemn the executive order and I have outlined why my party has condemned it. However, we have to live in the real world as well. There are ways of putting across our disgust and displeasure with that order. Such an approach amounts to engaging rather than stepping back and saying we are not going to visit the White House or interact with the new US Administration.

How easy would Deputies feel? My question is for those Members who advocate that our Government should not be represented. The Taoiseach represents the people. It is not only a question for the Taoiseach, because he represents the Dáil and the people. Let us suppose the Taoiseach refused that invitation. How easy would it be for us to get other meetings? How easy would it be for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to be able to go there and advocate for the undocumented Irish? How easy would it be for any of us to pay a visit to the US Congress, the House or Senate, to explain why our country would go down that route and effectively insult another nation by refusing an invitation on St. Patrick's Day, our national day? It would affect not only that particular event but all the other events that occur around it. Deputies know that is the case. It was an easy soundbite on the day when many people, including me, were singularly angry about the executive order. Many people in America are angry too and this will be dealt with in America. It was an easy soundbite for parties to say the Taoiseach should not travel or that he should not go to the United States. It was not based on any fact or in any reality. That ship has sailed. The Dáil must move on.

It is important we speak in one voice on the fundamental part of this issue, that is to say, as democratically elected Members of Dáil Éireann we condemn the executive order on the basis that I have outlined. It is discriminatory and racist and contravenes the Geneva Convention as well. I hope this ban is overturned. I hope the US Administration has a serious rethink about the road it is going down and the new policies it is undertaking.

I wish to turn briefly to the issue of the undocumented Irish. Like many here, perhaps including Deputies Howlin, Eamon Ryan and Crowe, I have had occasion to raise the issue of the undocumented Irish when in America. It seems we are continually raising it and we are not getting any further down the road. Rather than dealing with immigration reform, groups have come in and are lobbying for overall immigration reform in the United States. It seems further away than ever. How far down the road are we in respect of discussing a bilateral arrangement? It has been discussed at a high level over several years. I am in favour of a deal along the lines of the deal between the Australian and US Administrations. Reciprocal visas are issued to people from both countries with up to 10,000 on each side. Irish undocumented could apply for these. We are going to have to be inventive and think in a new way.

It is pretty clear that under this US Administration there will be no major immigration reform. The plight of our undocumented is even more precarious. Indeed, we have seen the actions of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies in America already. They have clamped down already on those they believe to be illegal immigrants. We really need to redouble our efforts.

I am unsure whether the Minister will have an opportunity to respond later. If not, perhaps the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McHugh, can. I call on the Minister to bring the House up to date. This has to be a priority for us.

A fair point was raised with me when I was in America. We are dealing with 50,000 plus Irish in America who are undocumented. However, we have undocumented people in Ireland as well. We have to remember that. All parties and the Government should look at dealing with that matter and regularising the undocumented people who have been here for eight, nine or ten years. Their children have been born in Ireland but they still have no status. I believe that would strengthen our case when we are advocating for Irish citizens abroad. We could demonstrate that the Irish State has taken a positive step in respect of regularising undocumented people who live here and who deserve to stay. We should consider these elements.

It is clear that the executive order is most unhelpful. My party condemns it completely. I call on the Taoiseach to raise the views of the elected Members directly with President Trump and his Administration on 17 March and at every opportunity thereafter. It is unfortunate, as I said, that we do not have a motion that can be passed from the House. That is not the fault of anyone sitting here. It is telling that no one from AAA-PBP is here to contribute to the debate. They shouted loudest in the days after the executive order. They were beating their chests and pulling their hair out and berating everyone else. Deputy Coppinger was at it that day. Despite this, they are not even here to contribute. That is rather telling about their policies and political approach to the issue. I thank the Minister for outlining the Government position. I hope he takes the points of the Fianna Fáil party on board.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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It may be obvious but the selection and subsequent election of Donald Trump has created much concern within the USA and throughout the world. The presidential election saw him come out with some extraordinary copy that was in many cases racist, sexist and sectarian. These nasty and mean comments concerned and outraged many decent and fair-minded individuals throughout the world.

Most people in Ireland did not know of Donald Trump. Some may have seen him on "The Apprentice" or the "Dragons' Den" or whatever it is called. Some may have stayed in Trump hotels. Many of us heard about him buying up a NAMA hotel and his subsequent difficulties in trying to get planning permission to build a wall.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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That was his early wall-building.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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It is correct to call it his early wall-building. For many watching the earlier events and the election it was a case of bluster and bad hair. Some passed him off as a harmless charlatan. As the election campaign developed and people saw what was behind the individual and what he was saying, many became frightened. Like many other groups, Sinn Féin is completely opposed to these comments and the racist, sexist and sectarian policies that he articulated at various times during campaign. Collectively, we need to oppose them in Ireland, the USA and anywhere else where they feature throughout the world.

The uncomfortable reality for many of us is that Donald Trump won a democratic election and he is now the US President. While we respect this democratic victory, collectively, we must all oppose his extreme, unacceptable and dangerous policies. We know that there have been widespread protests in the USA to protest against the policies of the Trump Administration. These popular protests were some of the largest seen in the history of the USA. The international outcry at the actions of the Trump Administration was palpable as well.

Donald Trump's executive order brings an uncomfortable shiver and it has halted the US refugee programme. It also introduced a collective travel ban for citizens from seven Muslim countries. It was plainly wrong on every level. It involved a blanket 90-day travel ban for nationals coming from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It labelled millions of innocent people as somehow suspect, not right, criminal or potentially a terror suspect. It was to be discriminatory and selective on a truly vast and unimaginable scale.

I welcome that the ban has been suspended by the courts but, as we know, that ruling continues to be challenged. Even people with the magic green card were to be refused entry at America's airports, something that was previously unimaginable. Anti-immigrant and anti-immigration policies that were perverse, fear driven and not based on reality or any known facts were somehow to be the order of the day under the new US Administration.

We know that generations of Irish people who fled starvation, poverty, oppression and conflict to make a new life contributed in every way to building the country that calls itself the United States of America where millions of them and their descendants still live. It is their descendants, proud Irish-Americans, as well as many other immigrant groups, who are among the most outraged at President Donald Trump’s so-called executive orders which are, in fact, exclusion laws. A major concern for many Irish people is not only these anti-immigrant, racist and sectarian policies but also that they might somehow be implemented or enforced in Ireland through the pre-clearance system operating in Dublin and Shannon Airports. My party shared these legitimate apprehensions and stated our belief the Irish Government needed to make it explicitly clear that it would not in any way legitimise or implement the executive order at pre-clearance centres at Dublin and Shannon Airports. I was particularly concerned that Ireland's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and other international agreements could be, by default, undermined and that the order would violate people’s rights. I am led to believe a meeting between US and Irish officials on pre-clearance facilities at Dublin and Shannon Airports has been brought forward from 1 March to 23 February at the insistence of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. I also understand the Minister has ordered his Department to review the pre-clearance set-up. While I welcome this initiative, I am looking forward to scrutinising the findings of that important review when it is completed.

What has also heightened our concerns is that Irish visitors to the United States will now need to declare whether they have travelled to the named seven, predominantly Muslim, countries in the previous six years when applying on the ESTA, electronic system for travel authorisation. Again, this is wrong. It is welcome that the US courts have stopped this ban in its tracks. Just last week a federal appeals court, under extreme pressure from its advocates, unanimously upheld the temporary suspension of the order. It seems likely, however, that the Trump Administration will appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court or try to rewrite or modify its flawed executive order. Many of us would prefer, if anyone listened to us in the Trump Administration, if it conceded defeat and recognised that its discriminatory policies were not legal or supported by the majority of the American people.

Again, there is growing concern that the Trump Administration is trying to somehow sidestep the democratic legal checks and balances in place primarily to keep a check on the power of the President's office. Cracks are already being exposed, with key spokespeople in his Administration receiving warnings about promoting the commercial products of the Trumps. Additionally, the US President’s new national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has had to resign after it was revealed he had misled the US Vice President, Mike Pence, and other top White House officials on his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. The huge protests we have seen on the streets of the United States and in its airports suggest the cracks are widening and that this will be no easy task for the Trump Administration. The message is that American citizens will not lie down. I express my solidarity with all those protesting against anti-immigrant, racist or sexist policies.

Last week President Trump also began to enact another pillar of his platform, namely, the deportation of undocumented or illegal immigrants. Across seven states immigration officials launched a series of daytime raids, seizing people in their workplaces, in shopping centre car parks and from their homes. The agents insisted that it was routine and that most of those arrested had criminal records. However, migrant support organisations spoke about widespread and terrified communities that were convinced that their loved ones would be taken away. There are also widespread media reports of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents going door to door in neighbourhoods with supposedly large amounts of immigrants, asking people to present their papers. People are panicking and really scared. Poor people from Latin America, particularly Mexico, are said to be the most worried. It is the poor who are the target.

The Irish Central news organisation has also reported that in Irish immigration centres in New York there has been a marked rise in the numbers seeking advice and to adjust their status or apply for citizenship since President Trump’s inauguration. There is currently over a month-long wait to see an immigration counsellor in the Queens immigration office.

The Taoiseach has made clear that he will travel to the White House for the annual St. Patrick’s Day event. Surely in his visit he cannot ignore these developments and it cannot be business as usual. The primary focus of his trip has to be on engaging with the Irish diaspora, standing with the undocumented Irish and maintaining our strong ties with Irish America, particularly as regards the ongoing challenges and the process of peaceful change on this island. He needs to assert in the strongest possible terms the collective position of the people of total opposition to any racist, anti-women or anti-immigration policies of the Trump Administration.

Sinn Féin’s main engagement in the USA is with Irish America, the bridge between this island and people in the USA. Many Irish-Americans are as appalled as anyone else by the policies articulated by President Trump. We will engage with them and listen to their mounting concerns. However, it is important that, as part of this debate, we do not focus only on the United States. We also need to take an in-depth look at immigration policies in Ireland. In September 2015 the Government agreed to resettle and relocate 4,000 refugees in Ireland in two years. While we welcomed this commitment, we argued that it could have been more generous. From all accounts, we will fail to reach this target by September 2017, despite the Government’s claims. The world’s worst refugee crisis is evolving and our response is one of denial and prevarication.

Like many others, I have been contacted by people who are desperate to get their family members to Ireland. Some have experienced the absolute brutality of Daesh. Despite being law-abiding Irish citizens, they are refused permission to bring their desperate and vulnerable family members here to safety. There is, rightly, much talk about the undocumented Irish in the USA. What about the undocumented in Ireland? Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, MRCI, estimates that there are between 20,000 and 26,000 undocumented migrants, including children and families, living and working in Ireland. What are we doing to assist them? Research carried out by MRCI revealed that one in five undocumented migrants had lived in Ireland for more than ten years, that 89% were employed and that one in three had been in the same job for more than five years. I am, equally, appalled by how they are treated and their insecurity. We ask US politicians to create a pathway for the undocumented Irish but nothing for those living in the shadows in Ireland. Is that right? Is it fair? We should urgently implement a straightforward transparent scheme to give people the opportunity to come forward and apply to regularise their immigration status in Ireland. We need to do this to be consistent. We could then request, with some moral authority, that the same be done for the undocumented Irish in the United States.

I also use the opportunity to refer to the Dakota Access pipeline project, against which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe have led large, vibrant colourful protests. The proposed 1,200 mile pipeline will link North Dakota with Illinois across their sacred lands and it is a proposal that will threaten their water supply and cultural heritage. They have legitimate concerns about the real environmental risks the pipeline will create. It will disturb their sacred areas and ancient burial sites. There is a high risk that it will lead to the pollution of their drinking water source. The project was approved without even the most basic of consultation with the tribe which have been bravely demonstrating against the building of the pipeline, joined by other Native Americans from across North America. Anyone who has seen the videos of peaceful protesters being attacked by private security companies with dogs and pepper spray would have to be made of stone not to be moved. That is the atmosphere in which the immigration policies are being implemented.

The Obama Administration had halted some work on the pipeline but representatives of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe knew that the battle was far from won. President Trump has now overturned that decision to halt the construction. He has signed an executive order to advance the construction of the pipeline under terms and conditions to be negotiated. The order expedites the environmental review that President Trump described as "incredibly cumbersome, long, horribly permitting process". I have sent my solidarity to those protesting about this pipeline project and legally challenging its construction.

I said at the outset that people in Ireland did not know of Donald Trump. The "trump" people of my generation grew up knowing was the use of that word in the song, "Nellie the Elephant". Apparently, as the song goes:

Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk,

And said goodbye to the circus,

Off she went with a trumpety-trump,

Trump, trump, trump.

Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk,

And trundled back to the jungle,

Off she went with a trumpety-trump,

Trump, trump, trump.

Donald Trump might go back to the Wall Street jungle and go trump, trump, trump.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has a hidden talent as a storyteller as well.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I will not try to engage in poetry in my contribution. I want to begin by saying there was a deep sense of shock across the House when the executive orders were signed by President Trump. It would have been better had there been a common voice rather than individual statements on that. Obviously, we do not have a consensus view on every issue but on the issue of this executive order and its impact on a group of seven countries and their citizens, we have a common voice. It would have been preferable had it been possible to craft a motion that we could all formally adopt and submit to the US authorities but we have statements and we will have to deal with it on that basis.

The election of Donald Trump caused dismay - that is not too strong a word - or certainly deep concern among many people in Europe and certainly for anybody involved in public affairs in Europe. Some welcomed it but from listening to the Irish people the vast majority of them shared those real concerns. Having watched since his inauguration, with growing and deepening concern, his hateful rhetoric being transposed into executive action, all of us have to reflect on all these matters in a new way. It is not business as usual. Most of us got involved in politics because, on a basic level, we wanted to do our bit to make our own communities and country a better place. We come at it from different perspectives. We all came into public life to improve the lives of our people. In doing so, we try to set high standards for ourselves and to hold ourselves to them, to imagine a better society and to persuade people that those imaginings can take concrete form. There is not a politician who has not failed in that endeavour in some way. We are human, we make mistakes, we err, but time and again we try to do better and sometimes we succeed, and that renews people's faith in democracy. What is unique and different in my view about President Donald Trump is that he never once sought to be the best possible version of himself. During the course of the year and a half that he was campaigning he sought at every opportunity to stoke up fear and insecurity in the American people and to ruthlessly target the most vulnerable, and this from the United States that gave the world the idea of a Bill of Rights and proudly presents itself as "the land of the free and the home of the brave".

As a democrat, I must and do accept the democratic decision of the American people. They voted for a man whom they believe will change things and they voted in a way that says they are unhappy with the status quoin America. Across the western world, all of us involved in politics have to reflect on that message. As we learn more and more of the contacts between Donald Trump and President Putin of Russia, who was one of the first to congratulate President-elect Trump and made no secret of the fact that he wished President Trump to succeed in the election, and as we see people like Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen queuing up for photo opportunities with the new president, I believe we have real cause for concern. We commemorated a century of our proud history last year but today we have to wonder how much of our history we in the western world have managed to forget. Far right forces, building on support from disaffected and vulnerable working class communities, are once more growing and targeting bile at vulnerable minorities. How quickly we forget. Those of us who reject such an approach to politics must turn to the task of restoring faith in the democratic process among people who feel they have been alienated and forgotten.

I have spoken previously about the traditional St. Patrick's Day visit of the Taoiseach to Washington. Ireland has long-held deep relations with the United States of America, some of which the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, referenced in his contribution. As Deputy Darragh O'Brien said, we have very deep business interests, with Irish companies employing Americans in almost as great a number as American companies employing Irish people here. We depend on each other for investment. We have deep tourist links. Across most of the island of Ireland American tourists are an important part of our economic well-being. We have deep cultural links with not only a common language but the same taste in music, history and so on, and up to now we shared values. This is the nub of it. I believe that the values we share are shared with the American people but they are not Donald Trump's values. For decades we have been able to enjoy significant access to senior US politicians in or around St. Patrick's Day. This has allowed us to raise issues that matter to this country on all the topics I mentioned, issues that matter to the Irish people. That access, as Deputy Flanagan and Deputy O'Brien have said, is extremely valuable. I know from talking to others that other countries are very jealous of it, but it is not the only thing of value.

Ireland is an open and tolerant nation. We believe that those who are experiencing violence and oppression in their home nations should be welcomed to nations that can provide them with safety, security and a future. President Trump does not share those values. Indeed, he is openly hostile to them. He and his team have made clear that they are unwilling to hear any discordant voices. In fact, they are unwilling to even listen. I believe and I have said it publicly, and I did not say it to have a soundbite and I resent it being characterised in that way because this is a major issue, that it is not business as usual. Our Taoiseach should not present himself in the Oval Office or in the West Wing of the White House to be humiliated, and that is what it would be in the same way as, I believe, Theresa May was, with President Trump holding her hand as a formal endorsement of his policies.

I strongly support the visit in recent weeks of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charlie Flanagan, to the United States. I said this publicly. The Minister engaged with senior Administration officials and senior elected politicians while doing Ireland's business. That engagement, arguing for what is important to us, is really important and significant but it is different from the shamrockery and glad-handing that surround St. Patrick's Day. I was privileged to spend ten years as a member of Cabinet, during which time I travelled on St. Patrick's Day missions all over the world. It is true that I did not always travel to the most savoury of places but the United States is quite different. We can give a different message to the United States.

It was suggested this morning in this Chamber by Deputy Darragh O'Brien that I would take a different view in government. Those who suggest the Labour Party would take different stand seem to have forgotten that when it was in government, the then Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, refused to attend the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York while LGBT organisations were banned from it. Former Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, refused to attend the St. Patrick's Day dinner in Savannah, Georgia, because women were banned from that event. Those events obviously do not have the same standing as the formal shamrock event in the White House but the values that informed the decisions on those events have informed our analysis of this matter also. Deputy Darragh O'Brien should note that Fianna Fáil was very critical of both Deputy Joan Burton and Mr. Eamon Gilmore for those decisions.

Sometimes the right choice is to travel to a country and openly criticise the actions taken by a government that fly in the face of our values. That is a legitimate presentation that was made this morning. It was done when Deputy Jan O'Sullivan travelled to Malawi for St. Patrick's Day, for example. She used that opportunity to be outspoken in her criticism of the homophobic policies that were being pursued in the country at that time. That had an impact because some change followed in 2012.

I have sympathy for and an understanding of the Taoiseach's difficulty in grappling with this question. These are tough calls. Ultimately, however, the decision must be based on which action best represents the values of the Irish people, whom the Taoiseach is supposed to represent on these trips. It is not simply a political trip but a representative trip on behalf of the Irish people. Therefore, I have an understanding of and sympathy for the Taoiseach in making the choice but I do not believe he is making the right choice.

As I stated, I do not think anybody believes that when the Taoiseach travels to the White House and openly makes comments that clearly set out Ireland's position on the policies being implemented by Mr. Donald Trump, anybody will listen. Why does anybody in this House imagine that the Taoiseach will fare better than the Australian Prime Minister a short few weeks ago, on whom the telephone was simply hung up, or the Mexican President?

The recent US executive order is dangerous, wrong and racist. It will increase radicalism and not diminish it in anyway. We must reject those policies and the values that underpin them. I believe that is what Irish people want. It has been said that the issue of the undocumented Irish is so important because they might be affected by any refusal to go through with the normal St. Patrick's Day event. One can celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the United States without doing that formal work. It is an extraordinary presentation of the facts, however, if one regards the undocumented Irish as some sorts of hostages whose plight requires us to kowtow to an Administration for fear their circumstances would somehow be worsened if we did not pay proper obeisance to President Trump. That is a poor analysis of the circumstances and one that does not do justice to the very strongly held views of the Irish people.

These are very difficult times. The Trump Administration is new and unprecedented. Every day when we get up, today no less than any other, a new part of our reality is to check the latest announcement, pronouncement or executive action of the Trump Administration. These are days, issues and phenomena that require us to break the notion of business as normal, or the view that because we have always done something, we must always do it. I believe strongly that the values that are important to us and under assault not only in the United States but also elsewhere, including across Europe, deserve to be defended by us.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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On Saturday, 11 March, United Against Racism, along with a host of other organisations, including trade unions, Palestinian solidarity groups, anti-war groups, women's rights groups, abortion rights groups, LGBT groups, environmental groups and pretty much anybody who has a progressive bone in their body, will be marching here in Dublin appealing to the Taoiseach not to go to Washington. This is not some sort of protest for its own sake. In fact, the scale of mobilisation in the United States and worldwide in response to Mr. Trump's agenda, policies and the threat people rightly perceive he represents to vulnerable minorities and all categories of people, including Muslims, Mexicans, LGBT people, women-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The disabled.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The disabled. One can go through the list. President Trump has put whole nations in his firing line. People understand the mortal threat he represents and they are mobilising across the world on an unprecedented scale. The protests we are seeing in the United States are of a scale that has not been seen since the late 1960s. People understand that this guy represents an absolutely mortal threat, namely, the threat of pulling the entire political spectrum in the direction of the fascist and Nazi politics of the 1930s. I do not say that lightly. Let us be clear: I do not believe Mr. Trump is a Nazi but he is dangerously echoing the politics of the Nazis, and he has people who are openly sympathetic to fascist politics in his Cabinet. He has given a fillip of support to actual Nazis and fascists across the world, who were jumping with joy when he was elected because his policies have legitimised theirs. They are all cock-a-hoop over what he is doing, what he represents and the boost he has given to them, breathing life back into the politics that led to the Holocaust. We should not underestimate the threat this man represents. This is not just another nasty president or just another particularly right-wing and obnoxious leader; he is an existential threat to the whole world and has to be recognised as such.

That is why it is imperative that we mobilise against him.

He has pulled off an extraordinary trick by harnessing the legitimate anger of many working, poor, disillusioned and disaffected people in the US at the betrayals and failures of the Obama Administration and the Democrats and pretending to be an anti-establishment figure as if he is going to give the establishment a kicking in a way that will serve the interests of the American working people, when he is actually manipulating that and turning it in the most dangerous right-wing direction. It is important for us to say this because those of us who are opposed to Trump should in no way use our opposition to whitewash Obama's crimes and betrayals of promises such as, for example, keeping Guantanamo Bay going, 260,000 bombing raids in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere in the world and millions of refugees turned away from the US borders. If we do not recognise the hypocrisy, failures and betrayals of Obama, we will not be able to engage with the angry people in the US who look to Trump as an alternative.

Trump is not an alternative. He is the extreme right-wing face of the establishment. I say this to anyone who has illusions to the contrary. His cabinet is the wealthiest in the history of the world. It is not a cabinet representing the little people. It is a cabinet of the 1%. Wilbur Ross is worth $2.5 billion, Betsy DeVos is worth $1.25 billion, Rex Tillerson, formerly of ExxonMobil, is worth $325 million, Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, is worth $300 million and Andy Puzder, formerly of Goldman Sachs and a CEO in the fast food industry who is hostile to the minimum wage, is the Secretary of Labor. I do not have time to go through the lot of them. His entire cabinet's personal wealth, not including Trump's own, is $4.5 billion. There is more wealth in his cabinet than in 63 of the poorest countries in the world. That is incredible. Trump is a representative of the 1% who is using the anger felt by people in America - the poor, the unemployed and the disaffected - and turning it in a vicious, racist direction against Muslims, ethnic minorities, gay people, women and anything that is progressive. He must be resisted.

I will mention one other group in that regard. Today, Trump is meeting Benjamin Netanyahu. Since Trump's election, Netanyahu, who has smashed through any sort of serious attempt at trying to make peace with the Palestinians, feels that he is completely off the leash and, citing Trump specifically as the reason, can expand illegal settlements into Palestinian territory. If Trump moves the US Embassy to Jerusalem, it will be like throwing a grenade into the political process in the Middle East.

Against the threat that Trump represents, for us not to go on St. Patrick's Day would be the sort of protest that would be felt. If the Government goes, it will be legitimising and endorsing him as some sort of normal US President with whom we can have normal political discussions. We cannot. We must resist his political agenda.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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It was remarked that AAA-PBP Deputies were not present. One third of our group is present for this debate.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputies were late, but it is okay. They are here now.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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Obviously, Fianna Fáil has only bothered to send one of its Deputies.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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No, I am the spokesperson on foreign affairs.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Coppinger without interruption, please.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad that the Deputies are here now, though.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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It is difficult when one is in a small party to bilocate from committees, etc.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I looked in the Deputies' direction-----

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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Hopefully, the Deputy will discover the joys of being in a small party some day.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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We were before.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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In calling for this debate two weeks ago when the Muslim ban - let us face it, that is what it was - was initiated, we and other Deputies wanted to send a message to Donald Trump about his racist policies not being acceptable. The question of airports remains relevant. Some of the impetus has been taken from the debate by the brilliant protests, which gave the three judges who blocked Trump's order the courage to take a stand against him. We will wait to see what happens, but the threat has by no means gone away. If the Taoiseach, Fine Gael or the Government is trying to pretend that it is okay to go to the White House on St. Patrick's Day, that will not be accepted.

There is a saying, "By your friends shall you be known". Let us look at Trump's friends and appointments. Carl Paladino, one of the key people who ran his campaign, wished death upon the Obamas and called Michelle Obama a "gorilla". These are the people with whom the Taoiseach will be shaking hands. General Flynn, who has been reluctantly sacked by Trump, said that Sharia law was taking over the US. He is anti-Semitic and racist and says that the fear of Muslims is rational and that Islam is like a cancer. He has been sacked because of his own stupidity regarding other issues, but these are the people the Taoiseach is going to be meeting. Steve Bannon-----

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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He will not be meeting Flynn.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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They will not be in the room. That is great. Steve Bannon from the so-called alt-right, who is trying to rebrand racism and make it more palatable, is homophobic and believes in a hierarchy of races, genders and religions. He is the most anti-woman person one could ever meet. He believes that every telegraph pole in the south should be festooned with a Confederate flag. These are the people Donald Trump appointed. He also endorsed candidates who wanted to expel Muslims completely from America, so the idea that he will not pursue the Muslim ban is erroneous.

I wish to remind Deputies that there are Irish Muslims as well. Some people are probably not aware of it, but we have a large Irish Muslim community. I met a group of Muslims on Friday night. There is a large concentration of Muslims in the Dublin Mid-West and Dublin West constituencies. Many of them are dual citizens. I was asked about this issue. Although we are hearing that it is okay to travel with an Irish passport, the reality is that, if a person has brown skin, is a Muslim and arrives at an airport, he or she will fall prey to being treated badly. Reassurance on this matter has been given for now, but the US will want to extend its measure. We should take on board the fact that there are approximately 60,000 Muslims in Ireland.

The Government often argues that it will make a statement, but the best way to make a statement is by depriving Trump of a PR job on 17 March and of the chance to gain kudos among the Irish community in the US. That is the strongest statement. The Taoiseach was humiliated in the Dáil yesterday when he changed his story several times. I would not trust his ability to handle Donald Trump and escape unscathed.

What are Americans who oppose Trump doing? When Betsy DeVos visits a school now, students walk out and parents picket. That is how they protest. They would welcome a prime minister of any country showing solidarity by doing the same and refusing to visit the White House. It would be hypocritical of the Government to send the Taoiseach, particularly in light of our history of migration.

The Dáil should be taking decisions on this matter. We should not be having vacuous statements that end in nothing.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Agreed.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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There was an attempt to move an all-party motion, but it would seem that the Government did not want to sign up to it. It is strange that the Taoiseach will look Trump in the eye when he will not even send a message about the executive orders.

It just does not bear thinking about. We know-----

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My understanding is that the Government was to sign it but it could not because the AAA-PBP demanded that it should have the right to amend it.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Exactly.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Coppinger should be allowed to speak without interruption.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Everyone else was agreed and we were waiting to sign it but the AAA-PBP issued a statement. It was the AAA-PBP that refused to sign it.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Coppinger should be allowed to speak without interruption.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Everybody else agreed to sign it.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I ask Deputy Ryan to stop interrupting.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I will just correct what has been said.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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It is not the first time Deputy Ryan has interrupted. His time slot is coming up and he should allow others to speak and then he can contribute when it is his turn. Deputy Coppinger should be allowed to speak without interruption.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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The AAA-PBP group sent its support for the motion so I do not know where Deputy Ryan has got his information.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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From the meeting.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Coppinger is wrong.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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We sent our assent to the motion so the record should be corrected.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The AAA-PBP reserved the right to amend the motion.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My understanding is that the Government was due to support it but it could not insert the changes.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Members should address the Chair.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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No, that is wrong. Deputy Ryan's understanding is completely wrong.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Coppinger should be allowed to speak without interruption.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I hope I will get a little more leeway to finish my point because I was interrupted twice. We sent our support for the motion that was circulated.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The AAA-PBP reserved the right to amend it.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Brien should allow Deputy Coppinger to speak without interruption.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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Our understanding is that the Government did not want to sign up to it.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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That is not right. It is wrong.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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A couple of parties-----

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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For the record, that is not right. The Deputy knows it is not right. She should not say it again because she is wrong.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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At this point the Government still supports the idea of the Taoiseach going to the White House. We know the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, does not, but the rest of the Cabinet does. We know Fianna Fáil supports the idea of the Taoiseach going to the White House.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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We do, yes.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I would like to know also where Sinn Féin stands because on the morning that Trump was elected, Deputy Adams said in the Dáil that he hoped he would play a positive and progressive role in world affairs. That was the statement he made. I know that Sinn Féin issued an invitation to the North but I hope Sinn Féin has moved on by now and will also agree that the Taoiseach should not go to the White House.

There is an unspoken view that the US Administration will make a special deal for the undocumented Irish. That would be completely wrong. It would not show solidarity. What the Taoiseach should do is go to the US, meet the undocumented Irish and the undocumented Latinos, visit African-American organisations and Standing Rock. In the 1840s the Choctaw nation sent money to this country during the Famine. We should stand with it as it is being brutalised and attacked by Trump and his regime. That is the type of solidarity we should show.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The next slot is being shared by Deputy Mick Wallace and Deputy Catherine Connolly. They have 15 minutes. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Trump is certainly a fascinating development and the level of media attention for his actions is probably unprecedented. His actions are so erratic, vulgar and tactless that the public is finally paying attention to things that have been going on for years, but under the watch of more polished and less transparent politicians. As a result of legal challenges in the US against Trump's so-called travel ban we are discussing something that happened for two weeks and then stopped and now just the threat remains, but for Americans living abroad who happen to hold the wrong citizenship or those living in America with the wrong citizenship this threat is very real and has already led to the separation of families. Trump is a problem for neoliberal politics and neoliberal politicians. He is a neoliberal and much of the same religion as Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil except he does what he says he will do, which is obviously scary. He has bypassed the pretence that the American political system is anything other than a brothel for the corporate class and their lobbyists. He has directly appointed to top Cabinet positions former CEOs of corporations that used to have to pay to have their views represented and interests defended in Congress and the Senate. Many of the people who are in his Cabinet at the moment are the very same people who were pulling the strings in Obama's government and Bush's government before that. It might be interesting that we can see them in the plain light of day now.

If we want a more honest approach and if we are genuinely interested in honesty this would be a very different place. The manner in which the Fine Gael and Labour Party Government and the current Government have defended what has gone on in NAMA and defended the Garda Commissioners-----

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Wallace should stick to the debate on America.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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All right.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I must insist. We are having statements on America. There will be other opportunities for the Deputy to deal with that issue.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Okay. The lack of honesty in politics is not rare and it is not confined to Trump. We have helped the American military to bomb Afghanistan for 15 years through facilitating them at Shannon Airport. We are horrified that Trump is introducing a ban on Muslims going to America - it is terrible - but what does it say about us that when Obama was bombing the living daylights out of the same people we had so little to say about it? We were even prepared to let them use our airport to do so. Where was the outrage then? It is madness.

Do people realise that Obama deported more undocumented migrants in his term of office than all the American Presidents from the 20th century put together? He has created a record for deportation. Last year alone he dropped 26,000 bombs and that was one of his more peaceful years. He talked peace but he was a warmonger. The question of whether the Taoiseach should go to America and talk to Trump is a moot one. I challenged the Taoiseach in the House two years ago before St. Patrick's Day. I suggested that if he was going to America to meet Obama that he should please raise his drone campaign, which was causing huge problems for the world. It was increasing the prevailing level of terrorism. I do not believe the Taoiseach raised the issue.

It is not a case of whether the Taoiseach goes to the White House or not, if we are going to analyse who he is going to talk to then in fairness he would not talk to many. On that basis, I do not think he should talk to Hollande. As to whether I would send a trade mission to Saudi Arabia, I would not. When we go on a trade mission to Saudi Arabia we do not mention the word "Yemen", although genocide is being carried out there. I find it interesting that the mainstream media have turned on Trump. He has not killed a fraction of the people Obama has killed yet. I do not say he will not do so, and I will not defend him. He is an ugly racist. I have no problem challenging what he does. However, let us not pretend that things were different before now. Why was Trump able to do what he did? One of the reasons he is able to tap into the groundswell of anti-Muslim fear and bigotry is because that has been cultivated for years. How did he come up with the seven countries? In December 2015 Obama signed a Bill making it more difficult for those people to get into America. He did not ban them completely but he initiated a Bill which made life more difficult for them. In February 2016 the Obama Administration added Libya, Somalia and Yemen to the list of countries one could not have visited but allowed dual citizens of those countries who had not travelled there access to the visa waiver programme. Dual citizens of Syria, Sudan, Iraq and Iran are still ineligible. Obama restricted visa waivers for those seven Muslim majority countries and now Trump is seeking to stop them completely. Could we not admit that what the Americans have been doing for years, and in particular since 2001, after 9/11, has done untold damage to the world?

It is reckoned they have killed over 2 million civilians in the Middle East region and beyond with their military efforts. We still allow Shannon Airport to be used. If the Taoiseach was prepared to go to the US and stop the Americans using Shannon Airport as a military base and raise the subject with President Trump, I could live with him going. It will not be an awful lot worse than going to see the last few fellows anyway.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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It is a privilege to be able to speak in the Dáil and to have seven and a half minutes to do so but with that privilege goes a duty and responsibility to highlight matters. It is a sad day when this Dáil cannot agree on a unified motion that the Taoiseach could take with him to the US because we all agree that this President is misogynist and racist, has policies that are discriminatory and appears to be in contravention of the Geneva Convention. Yet this Dáil cannot agree a motion that the Taoiseach can take with him to speak on our behalf and on behalf of the people of Ireland. The motion on the extreme left with some support from others that the Taoiseach should not go increases the hypocrisy that has been apparent in this Chamber for the past while, including the discussion yesterday involving who said what to whom and so many other topics, including the health waiting lists where we have a post-fact situation and alternative facts. We have the cheek to talk about post-truth in the US, which exists and is frightening. As a woman, feminist and female Deputy, I am appalled by what President Trump is doing and afraid but I am more afraid of the narrative that ignores what led to his election in the US. This makes me more afraid.

During the election, the Democrats failed to go to Wisconsin and a number of other states. They arrogantly refused to listen to what the people were telling them and to hear the message that people voted for someone who they clearly knew was volatile and who lives for his ego and to feed his ego. They put this man in power such was their lack of belief in the alternative. Similarly in Ireland, if we go back to last night's discussion, we discuss everything but the issue. The Ceann Comhairle has asked us to stick to the topic and I am sticking to it and I believe Deputy Wallace stuck to it because there are implications for the way we deal with language and issues. Last night, we went around in circles and utterly failed to deal with the issue of alternative facts and alternative statements relating to a crisis that goes to the very heart of our democracy.

Similarly, with the simple motion asking the Taoiseach not to visit the US, we ignore the fact we have let every Taoiseach up to now go to the US without any problem. As Deputy Wallace has pointed out, many Presidents prior to this one have done dreadful things. A total of 60,000 troops passed through Shannon Airport, which is a civilian airport, not a military one, in 2016 alone. Over 2.5 million troops and rising have used Shannon Airport since 2002. On a daily basis, we have troops and military aircraft going through Shannon Airport. We have a post-truth situation in respect of the facts of this matter. Courageous people in a small group attend Shannon Airport on a regular basis and keep a close watch at great cost to their personal lives to try to provide the evidence that each Government has asked them to provide. We are back to what is done to whistleblowers. We talk about President Trump's hypocrisy and post-truth statements.

If we are to learn anything in the Dáil today, it is to learn what the messages from what is happening in the US are for our democracy, which is very fragile. What should we learn from that? One of things to learn is that speaking out in Ireland is a very dangerous thing to do and that regardless of who the person in question is, be it someone in politics, an ordinary person going to Shannon Airport or somebody in the health services, the Army or An Garda Síochána who has the courage to speak out, we will get them one way or another. If we do not see parallels between that type of society and the type that President Trump is openly cultivating, we are in serious trouble.

I have no difficulty with the Taoiseach going to the US. It is a long tradition. However, he should go with a very strong message from this Dáil that we abhor President Trump's policies and will not stand by them. He should meet all the groups over there who have gone out on a limb, again at great cost to themselves, and the progressive members of the Democratic Party. He should stand with them and use the opportunity to say that there is a different way and that Ireland represents a different way. Of course, we will have difficulty with that because, as the Minister of State knows, over many years in this Chamber, our neutrality has been interpreted in the most elastic way possible. Neutrality means that we can allow a submarine from the Netherlands to dock at Horgan's Quay in Cork and an armed sailor to step out on the quay because he is from a friendly country. This came from a response to a parliamentary question. We can allow the troops I have mentioned go through Shannon Airport and still call ourselves a neutral country. We want to deplore President Trump but, equally, we want to maintain the facilities at Shannon Airport without question.

I began by saying that it is a privilege to speak. We have a responsibility to highlight issues, discuss them rationally and come forward with our vision. There is a different way of doing things that is more sustainable for all of us in the long term. It is not sustainable to have military aircraft flying through Shannon Airport. It is not sustainable on health and safety grounds and on economic grounds because it is costing us a fortune. It is not sustainable if we are going to persist in saying that we are a neutral country. I shudder at what President Trump represents but I shudder even more at what is behind him. It has been stated that President Trump lost faith in General Michael Flynn not because he was lying but because it became public. That is exactly the same theme that dominates public life in this Chamber. It is only when facts become public that we discuss them but we do not have a horror of what happened before those facts became public at great cost to the personal lives of the whistleblowers and those courageous people who come forward.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this very important subject and would like to put an interesting story on the record of the Dáil. On 25 December 1988 - the morning of Christmas Day - my mother gave me the gift of a book. I opened the book and asked her who it was by. She told me to read it and that we would talk about it that evening. The book was The Art of the Dealby Donald J. Trump. We had a discussion on the book that night and she said "you're young". This man was 40 at the time. She told me to watch him because he would be an interesting man and could finish up running the world. She did not say "ruling the world". She said "running the world". She never mentioned politics but she had a bit of foresight in that she was able to see that he was a man of potential who was going places.

We must accept and respect the democratic right of any person to put themselves forward for election. That has happened and he is the US President. One can like or dislike him but we, as Irish politicians, have a job to do.

There are many Irish people, such as my own family, aunts and uncles, who were glad to go to America in the 1950s and 1960s and get gainful work. We appreciate the fact that they were able to work and live in America, as were all of our friends and cousins. Mr. Trump is their President now. Whether we like it or not, that is the situation.

I become very upset when I see sectors and religions being picked out and victimised. For instance, I am very personal good friends with many Muslims who came to my county. They are most welcome. Their religion and faith is their own business in my opinion. Everybody's religion, whatever it is, should be respected and nobody should be condemned or castigated for what their belief is. Obviously, every group of people will have bad people amongst them. That is the way of the world. What I see in Mr. Trump's policies is that he seems to be attacking certain groups that he should not be picking out in that way. It can be seen as populist. We have to be mature enough to work on it with him at the same time.

I heard people standing up in this House, as is their right to do, to say that the Taoiseach should not go to America for St. Patrick's Day. That is nonsense. Our Taoiseach and taoisigh in the past have always had the tradition of going over and being welcomed in the White House and making the connections. I myself had the opportunity on two occasions as mayor of our county in Kerry to go over and represent Kerry County Council. I met a lot of people. For instance, I remember meeting the late Mr. Ted Kennedy and him taking me into his office. I remember him carrying a number plate from Kerry with "Ted Kennedy - KY - 1" written on it. He put it up inside in his office. These sorts of things have to be done. That is the art of politics. One need not like or love somebody. One can actually dislike somebody. At the same time, politically, one has to get on with it. It would be completely disloyal to the Irish-Americans that live across all states. We would be doing them a sever injustice if we were to snub the tradition of our Taoiseach going to America on St. Patrick's week.

While I hear other people criticising politicians for travelling around the world during St. Patrick's week and saying that it is a waste of money, I have to be honest and say the complete opposite. I have experience of it myself on a small scale from being mayor of our county and being sent out to meet all of the different people in meetings set up by the local authority. I believe that is an investment. It is like spreading fertiliser. Grass does not grow unless fertiliser is spread to make it grow. It is the same thing with politicians travelling the world making connections, meeting people and meeting business people. That is a job of work. I hear people being critical about a Ceann Comhairle, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle or Ministers going on foreign travel, but I see it as the spreading of the fertiliser to make the grass grow. They are sent out to be respectable and to meet other politicians and business people. It is a very important job of work.

Last week, I was in Brussels. I am a very bad person for travelling because I do not like it. However, I went because it was important to go as Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. I was very glad that I was accompanied by great Senators and Deputies who worked very diligently over a two-day period. We had something like 14 meetings in two days. We met an awful lot of people. We discussed solutions to the Brexit issue. We did not give our time to discussing the problems; we looked at solutions. I am glad that we are having this debate about President Trump's policies, because it involves the same thing. His policies are throwing up difficulties and problems for us and for people all over the world. However, it is our job to get on with it and to try to use our considerable influence in America.

Presidents of America have always had an eye on the ball of the Irish vote and the Irish-Americans. Presidents want their support and want to be popular with Irish governments because of the simple fact that Ireland has a respectable name all over the world. Our workers who left Ireland, whether in the 1950s, 1980s or 1990s, were great people. They went to Australia, England and America. They broke their backs working. They were dependable, reliable and determined to get on in life, which is what they did. That is why we have to keep up our links. We have to keep going to America and keep sending Ministers there. We have to try to keep up a good and healthy relationship and not condemn for the sake of condemning.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I too am pleased to be able to speak on this debate. On the business committee, I was one of the people who opposed the frenzy we had to have an immediate debate and have huge hand-wringing, eye-washing and God knows what. As Deputy Healy-Rae said, Mr. Trump was elected by the American people. We are always told that it has one of the greatest democracies in the world. Now they are blaming the state system. That was never blamed before. That is the system they have always had. It is a relatively new democracy and they have always accepted the outcome. Just because they do not like the result, they want to blame the system. I wish Mr. Trump well. I certainly have concerns about some of the things he has done as well. However, he was elected. No matter what he is or is not, we have no business here telling him what to do. Is he going to listen to us? I doubt it.

As regards all of the hypocrisy about this executive order, the seven countries on the list were actually compiled by the Obama administration. Where was the outrage then? They were ready and waiting. The Obama Administration stopped processing Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011 and banned Cuban refugees. There was not a word about it. Let us cut out the hypocrisy. President Trump is doing it for 90 days, as against six months, with a visa-by-visa exception written into the executive order. I believe that is more humane, understanding and fair.

This is not an arbitrary list although Deputy Micheál Martin said it was. It is anything but. It is a ridiculous statement that completely ignores the reality of where extremist Islamic terrorists are being radicalised. Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Saudi Arabia is especially close with the United States. Where was the outrage then? Let us get it into perspective. We have enough issues to deal with here in our country. Indeed, we are not going to be crowned in glory by the shameful treatment we have given to the unfortunate individuals seeking asylum in Ireland. I have met many of them in Carrick-on-Suir and around Tipperary that are held in those terrible holding centres for up to a decade in parts of the country. The Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, knows about that too in Donegal.

Former president Mr. Bill Clinton talked about halting the immigration and refugee process to enable reform and protection of American citizens. Where was the outrage then? That was Bill Clinton, who did a lot for the peace process here in Ireland. He did a lot for Ireland in my opinion, but where was the outrage then? It is just because certain sections in the media and certain people in politics do not like President Trump or the result of the election. We had independent observers over there, or so we were told. I happened to be on a radio show one night with one of those observers, a Deputy from the Government side of the House. His name eludes me now. He was lamenting the outcome of the election. I thought he was an independent observer. I did not realise he was over there canvassing to stop Trump. However, this is the farce that goes on. Deputy Healy-Rae mentioned travel. It is very important. However, if one travels as an independent observer, one is meant to be an independent observer to observe the election and what goes on.

There is plenty of fake news and bias in the media here as well. Yesterday evening the Taoiseach was telling us stories for three hours and, in spite of the plug in his ear getting messages telling him to change his tune, he was rambling around the House like it was a rambling house, ag cuardach. He was talking to someone, then ag caint le someone else, then maybe a song and a bit of dance and then he would come back to some other thing he thought of. He had meetings before he had them at all. He ran away with himself. Sin scéal eile.

The Obama regime came in as the be all and end all. My own daughter was at his inauguration.

There was a 200% increase in the number of drone strikes and hundreds of thousands of children were slaughtered under the Obama Administration and what was the reaction from here? Silence. President Obama deported up to 3 million illegal immigrants, more than any other President. This was the great saviour, but what did he do? He added $7 trillion to the US national debt, yet he is the messiah of the American economy. The hypocrisy is staggering.

We now want to deal with President Trump. With regard to the Taoiseach travelling to the US for St. Patrick's Day, every Taoiseach has done that. It is a wonderful privilege to get the opportunity to go to the White House. I was there on one occasion as cathaoirleach of a county council and I saw the importance of that day with all the side meetings taking place and so on. I urge the Taoiseach to meet as many of the undocumented Irish as possible. The Taoiseach must go to the White House. He might be able to stay there a long time because we might not want him back but, nonetheless, as Taoiseach of the country he has to go, and I wish him well in that. I know he will do his best, once he puts away his phone. I hope he will not text the way he did in front of the Pope, but sin scéal eile.

The persecution of Christians throughout the world is unbelievable. I have tried to debate that issue in this Chamber. His Holiness, the Pope, asked me and other people from Ireland and throughout the world who are members of the International Federation of Christians to return to our Parliaments and debate the genocide of Christians. Who bombed the hell out of Iraq, Syria and other countries in the Middle East? Christians could operate with impunity under terrible dictators but now they are being slaughtered because they are Christians. Like Deputy Healy-Rae, I welcome people of all faiths and none to Ireland, but where was the outrage when that genocide was taking place? It is important that we put that in perspective. They bombed the hell out of those countries and Christians, as well as members of minority Muslim sects, were slaughtered. Deputy Darragh O'Brien will bring forward a motion on the Yazidi tribe but we cannot be selective. All people who are being persecuted must be protected. I do not like some of President Trump's language but we should not condemn him about his business. It is a pity we do not have a few businessmen on the opposite side of the House because we would have a better country. We would not have a Health Service Executive, a Tusla and all the rackets that are going on, with people promoting themselves and not being accountable to anybody. We need business decisions and people with a business brain. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae told a lovely story about his late mother and the leabhar sin fadó, fadó. She was a very intelligent and far-seeing woman. She read the book and she could see what would happen in the future. It is a pity that she went to her eternal reward before it happened but I am sure she knows, and I am glad her son was able to recount that story.

As far as keeping the preclearance centre at Shannon is concerned, we have to keep it. It is vitally important for the economy and also for our own people. The people involved are dealt with humanely. President Trump is talking about dealing with immigrants on a case basis, not imposing a blanket ban or deporting 3 million immigrants, as was done by his predecessor. We must have some perspective on this issue and be sane about it. We should not run away with ourselves thinking that we can interfere with a democracy like the United States. We cannot keep our own little house in order. There is an old saying that if one cannot clean one's own windows and keep the good flag up one should not be looking at anyone else's windows or flag. We are living in the valley of the squinting windows if we think we can affect what is happening in a country far away. The US has always been good to us. I have many relations in the US. There are many undocumented Irish living in the US and until he starts interfering with them, I will not be expressing any outrage.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Is Deputy Murphy sharing time?

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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We are sharing time. I want to put on the record that I hate everything about Trump and his Administration but he was not imposed. He was elected, and whether we like it or not, that will be the scenario unless something intervenes in the coming four years.

It is obvious that the Taoiseach will travel to Washington for St. Patrick's Day but it is regrettable that he will do so without a motion that could be commonly agreed by this Dáil. Deputy Róisín Shortall and I, along with others, having regard to the requirements some of the civil society groups wanted included, put forward a motion on which we believed there might be common ground. It states:

This Parliament strongly and categorically condemns President Trump’s Executive Order which adopts a targeted ban on refugees and migrants from certain countries. This Executive Order amounts to discrimination on the grounds of both nationality and religion - itself a gross violation of freely accepted international human rights obligations. We affirm that this Parliament stands in solidarity with US civil society organisations and all those in the US working to uphold the legal rights of all those affected by this discriminatory Executive Order.

Unfortunately, while it almost got there the motion did not receive common agreement. It would have been far better to have that kind of statement passed by this Dáil than to trust the judgment of the Taoiseach to represent this country's viewpoint. President Trump is an extremely strong personality; none of us need to be told that. I believe the Taoiseach is not a match for him. I would not have confidence in a sufficiently strong message being delivered. It was a missed opportunity not to have passed that motion.

An irony, which is important to point out, is that the coalition that was put together, the so-called war on terror, primarily involved the United States and the United Kingdom, yet those two countries are on the fault line now with regard to immigration. Those are the countries that largely destabilised the very region from which they are now refusing to accept migrants, and some from the most extreme circumstances. Is there a viable risk? Has that risk been analysed? David Bier from the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity is involved in analysing immigration policy. With regard to the risks he stated:

The order would ban all people entering the US from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen, and yet no terrorist from these places has carried out a lethal attack in the United States. Indeed, no Libyans or Syrians have ever been convicted for planning such an attack. Moreover, the likelihood of being killed by any refugee from any country is just 1 in 3.64 billion a year. This discrimination is arbitrary and cannot be rationally justified based on an assessment of the risk.

He went on to point out the US policy during the years of the Second World War and Roosevelt's Administration refusing to admit Jewish people fleeing the Holocaust. The risk suits a political agenda and evaluating whether that risk is real needs hard facts, not fake news. The idea of our Taoiseach having a nice photo opportunity with a bowl of shamrock, with perhaps a patronising pat on the back, will not be acceptable to most people in Ireland. The Taoiseach must make it very clear in advance of travelling to the US exactly what he intends to say and how he will represent us on this visit. That is critically important. A refusal to travel this year would be a refusal to travel next year and the following two years, and we would then begin to wonder whether there was a loss of influence. We may be a small island on the periphery of Europe but we are a country not without significant influence in the United States, largely because of the large Irish diaspora in the United States.

There is an opportunity to say something significant. The war on terror started under the Bush Administration. It continued under the Obama Administration. It is legitimate to question our role in providing Shannon as an assistance in what has happened over those two Administrations. We are not without questions to ask ourselves. Before the Taoiseach's visit happens, if he is still the Taoiseach, we need to know what will be said. We need to revisit the prospect of getting all-party agreement on a motion rather than the Taoiseach going without an imprimatur from the Parliament-----

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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-----which is very possible to achieve.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The United States and Ireland are woven together in so many different ways. We have an incredibly complex and far-reaching history. The first tune people learn on the fiddle when they are taught music here is the hornpipe "The Rights of Man". I was amazed to find out recently that weeks after "Rights of Man" had been published in New York it was published on Grafton Street and it took hold in this country like fire. In response to it, Mary Wollstonecraft, who lived across the road at No. 15 Merrion Square for a period, added to the fire with "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman". This freedom thinking, from the "Rights of Man" and "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", were embedded deeply the Irish culture.

Washington's army was made up hugely of Scots Irish immigrants who were refugees from religious persecution. These were the founding fathers, and the founding institutions were set up by that culture. When Washington's army was fighting the British there was a reduction in soldiers here because the British had to fight in America. In response the Irish Yeomanry volunteers were established, as were the United Irishmen by Wolfe Tone. Each of them used the shamrock in their flags to denote this new sense of Irish nationhood, freedom and identity, and they sang about "The Wearing of the Green". This is still sung, and it is deeply woven into US consciousness and thinking today because of all those people.

In our house we recently found out that an ancestor of my wife's as a young 14 year old from the dissenting tradition in Donegal read Uncle Tom's Cabinby Harriet Beecher Stowe and with other young men from Donegal migrated to join Lincoln's army. It is an incredible story, a 14 year old going on the boat and journey to join Lincoln's army. With Lincoln's army they fought under the flag with the shamrock. At the same time, as Sebastian Barry writes in his book Days Without End, the confederates came at them with the confederate flag on one side and the shamrock on the other. The image on the flag is not unimportant. It also flew in Mexico, when St. Patrick's Battalion took the Mexican side in the Mexican-American War. This imagery, particularly of the shamrock and the wearing of the green, goes right back to the core of Irish and US history. This is why everyone was so proud when John F. Kennedy came here and presented the flag which is at the entrance of Leinster House. It is an important part of the House. It is the flag of the Irish Brigade showing its involvement in the American Civil War.

We must remember today what Kennedy said, that self-determination can no longer mean isolation and no nation large or small can be indifferent to the fate of others. It is in this context the Green Party states we should stand up and wear the green today and state we respect and stand up for the Mexican Government. How dare the Trump Administration treat another government in the way it has treated the Mexican Government in recent months. If it treats that country of 120 million people, its most important nearest neighbour, in this way how will it treat others?

We stand up for the wearing of the green and state we do not accept torture. We stand by Thomas Paine. We stand by Washington and others, and the values established under the US Constitution because it is plain wrong not to do so. Yes, Deputy Mick Wallace is right, we also stand up against the drone strikes the Obama Administration introduced, but at least there was a sense in the Obama Administration that it believed in those constitutional values which are woven into our constitutional values which we hold so dear. We stand up and wear green by stating we refuse to accept a US Administration which is about to try to dismantle the climate agreement in which we all have a life or death interest for the future of our people. For this reason we must stand up. Perhaps most importantly, we stand up for the rights of those people from countries such as Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East who have been the victims of the terrorism that has been unleashed by the bombings in Iraq and Libya in recent years and state we cannot stand for this.

What do we do? We should take inspiration from the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, who stated it is not an automatic right but an earned honour for someone such as President Trump to speak in Westminster Hall, and he will not accept him doing so because opposition to racism and sexism, support for equality before the law and an independent Judiciary are hugely important considerations for the House of Commons. They are the constitutional values we should also stand up for but we are not doing so.

I am afraid the speech of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade was very weak. Commenting on the order, he stated it could have far reaching implications and further noted the Government fully shares the concerns expressed by other EU partners regarding the development. That is not good enough. It is not strong enough. It does not give a message that we need to stand up and represent.

Deputy Darragh O’Brien said in response to the Minister that his approach was very well handled and well considered. I am sorry but I beg to differ. Even if we had been in government, and as the Deputy said it is not easy in government, we would not just be sitting back and doing nothing, which is what is represented in the Minister's speech. What can we do? The Taoiseach is going over there. Let us start by not presenting the bowl of shamrock. Let us think of other ways of making a point because this is all about images and symbolism. Let us get an Erin go Brach flag from the period. It does not have to be Mexican one because I do not believe we have any of them left. Let us get a symbol of the shamrock which represents what we stand for. Why not hand him a copy of the Rights of Manwith a small shamrock on top? We must do something differently.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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He cannot do that if he does not go.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Okay, he will go. I would not go, but if he is going we cannot do with the way of business as usual. We cannot issue a statement which says nothing. We must stand up for rights because they represent what we stand for. What is our shared history with the United States that is important to us, that is close to us and that we value? In the short run it may be tricky, but in the long run we would better respected and we would honour the tradition and connection we have. I wish he was not going, but if he is going to go let us present a bowl of shamrock to John F. Kennedy's grave in recognition of those values or to Lincoln's Memorial, but do not just walk up to the White House and present a bowl of shamrock all smiles as if nothing is happening, which is what the Minister's speech states.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Tá an tAire Stáit, an Teachta McHugh, ag roinnt a chuid ama leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta O'Donovan, agus leis na Teachtaí O'Dowd and McLoughlin. Beidh trí nóiméad ag achan duine acu.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Ba mhaith liom i dtús báire buíochas a ghabháil leis na daoine thar lear i Meiriceá atá ag obair ar son daoine Éireannacha, go háirithe iad siúd atá gan aitheantas. I wish to address the House on the matter of the executive order signed by Presided Donald J. Trump on 27 January 2017. As Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora I have had an opportunity to meet a great many organisations and individuals working with Irish immigrants in the United States.

Last September, I visited San Francisco and had a meeting with representatives of the Irish Immigration Center, which supports Irish immigrants in the Bay area. I met great people, such as a fellow townie of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Fr. Brendan McBride. Such people are heroes in our eyes who have worked continuously and tirelessly for people who need support in these areas.

I subsequently travelled to New York, where I chaired a round-table meeting with representatives of the coalition of Irish immigration centres, which brings together Irish immigration centres from across the US. This was an important opportunity to reassure them of the Government's support for those working with Irish immigrants in the US, as well as its commitment to the twin objectives of relief for the undocumented and greater pathways for migration to the US. I also acknowledge the work of Senator Billy Lawless, who has been working very closely with me. He attended the meetings in New York and in January was at the meeting in Washington with the ambassador, Ms Anne Anderson, and her colleagues in the different consulates.

In addition, I travelled to Boston and western Massachusetts last November where I again met with representatives of Irish immigration and pastoral centres, including the Irish Cultural Center of New England, the Irish Pastoral Center and the Irish International Immigration Center, as well as Irish citizens living in the US. These briefed me on the plight and uncertainty of some Irish citizens living in the United States. I wish to make clear the Government's current and future actions in helping Irish citizens abroad through the emigrant support programme, which allocated upwards of €2.3 million, or 70% of the funding. These ongoing efforts to secure the best for our citizens abroad are just one area where we benefit greatly from Ireland's close historic and cultural relationship with the United States, a relationship we must do our best to maintain and grow. We talk about the unique relationship a lot and we have to be conscious of the great people involved such as Colleen Ward, who organises an annual festival in Milwaukee on which 3,000 volunteers work and which is attended by some 500,000, and Máire Colcannon in Canton, Massachusetts who works to protect the Irish language and as a custodian of all things Irish.

Ireland's relationship with the United States predates the independence of either nation. Our bonds are based on a shared history and culture and underpinned by common values including democracy, the rule of law and respect for all, regardless of ethnicity, religion or origin. Engagement with the new Administration is not confined to the events surrounding St. Patrick's Day but is continually reinforced by state visits throughout the year. Our diplomats in Washington and across the United States strive ceaselessly to sensitise local and federal leaders to Ireland's concerns and objectives. Likewise, our embassy and consulates provide consular services to Irish citizens in distress on a daily basis.

As has been noted, it is only by continuing to engage with policy makers in the US that we can articulate our concerns, whether it be with regard to the recent executive order or concerning the need for immigration reform, to bring relief for undocumented individuals in the US. The Government will continue to use all opportunities which arise to set out its case, in the interests of our citizens. I have taken a personal interest in the undocumented and have met many people who pay their taxes but have had to use Skype for funerals and have missed significant family events back home such as weddings. I met a couple from my own county who are both undocumented. They had to drive their children to an airport last summer but were unable to join them and there are many hardship stories such as this. I acknowledge all the people working in the consulates and Irish immigration centres for the great work they do on behalf or Irish citizens abroad.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I agree with a lot that has been said on two issues. The first is the incoherence of certain members of the Opposition in respect of the special links between Ireland and the United States, which we all accept. The second is the statements by some members of the Opposition to the effect that the Taoiseach should not go to the US. In other words, they are suggesting that we sever the important links between Ireland and the United States.

Another worrying element is the suggestion by some members of the Opposition that pre-clearance facilities and Shannon and Dublin be discontinued. Pre-clearance at Shannon and Dublin is of massive importance, not only to the development of the Irish economy but in the fostering of relations between Ireland and the United States of America. We are the only country in the European Union and the only country outside the Americas with access to pre-clearance, with the exception of one country in the Middle East. To suggest that we relent in this would be detrimental to the relationship between Ireland and the United States and hugely detrimental to the development of the economy. In my own area over 200,000 people come through Shannon's pre-clearance annually and it is of critical importance. We should send a very clear statement of commitment to Ireland's relationship with the United States of the America. The Taoiseach has said he will enunciate the Government's position on President Trump's announcement on immigration policy but it is of critical national importance that this House gives a clear statement on our ongoing commitment to pre-clearance for Shannon and Dublin.

I support the statements of my Government colleagues and wish the Taoiseach well in his forthcoming visit to the White House. I also echo calls of colleagues for the undocumented to be raised at the highest level.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I agree that the Taoiseach must visit the White House as it is important to do so. I profoundly disagree with the policies of President Trump and I think most people in this country probably do. That does not mean we should not visit a country which has received millions of Irish emigrants over generations and centuries. When Irish people went there first, they were of the wrong religion, they spoke the wrong language, were very poor and had serious issues with America as it was then. However, they stood the test of time and integrated into society, as Muslims do now and will in the future. The ban is wrong and if there is to be a recognition of that strong view in Ireland the Taoiseach should also visit the Statue of Liberty and lay a wreath for the words that are there written, welcoming "your poor, your huddled masses". That is what America is about and that is what this country is about, in terms of meeting the needs of our emigrants who have gone there.

I welcome the appointment of the ambassador to Ireland, Brian Burns, and it is important we continue to build strong bonds, which a new ambassador, American investment and a recognition of the importance America places on its Irish heritage will do. Ireland cannot stick its head in the sand for St. Patrick's Day. It must not and will not.

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I begin my short contribution to this important debate by stating for the record of the House my disappointment and worry over the recent US executive order on immigration into the USA, which was implemented by President Trump. I firmly believe this executive action, which in my opinion could be considered as sectarian, went against the very fabric of what makes the United States such a great nation of the world. After all, the USA's history is that of an immigrant country where people from all walks of life could arrive and have a chance at making it and live the American dream. This presidential executive order did not fit in with this mixed race culture, nor did it fit in with the overall values of the United States in general. It was unAmerican and I was glad to see that it was successfully challenged by the US judicial system and has since been removed, for now.

I do not think any politician could argue about the right for an independent country to take actions to protect its borders, but I do think there is a problem when a person who, during his election campaign, was openly intolerant of other religions and races seeks to ban certain religions or races from entering his country when elected. Alarm bells have to start ringing when this occurs as we have seen similar sentiment expressed by the likes of Nigel Farage, during the Brexit referendum, and currently in France with Marine Le Pen. The fact that the repercussions of this executive order actually took place on Irish soil brought this issue firmly into focus for many here. It was no longer just something that could have been viewed on our televisions. It was actually happening at our Irish airports. For me, it became a reality because, despite this victory in the courts, my biggest concern right now is for the 50,000 undocumented Irish citizens currently living in cities throughout the USA. Will they be next? In the past number of weeks since the inauguration of President Trump, my constituency office has been receiving phone calls from families who are now worried about whether their loved ones will be targeted next. There is real fear out there in the Irish US community. If the President could target one classification of people without having any real reason to or without having any factual arguments, what is to stop him from conducting an attack on others?

Following on from the crisis, the question has been, and still is being, asked as to whether our Taoiseach should go to the White House. People are saying that we should turn our backs on the White House and refuse the annual St. Patrick's Day visit there. However, we would do the undocumented Irish a disservice if we took that approach. We need to be in that room arguing on their behalf and fighting their cause with the President. The relationship between the United States and Ireland over 200 years is bigger than any individual and it must be maintained. I believe that our relationship with the United States of America will remain strong, but this executive order and its goals need to be condemned.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I am sharing time equally with Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin and Deputy Timmy Dooley.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this subject. Fianna Fáil has already tabled a motion condemning the executive order which will have huge implications for Iran, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. The order also indefinitely halts refugees coming from Syria. I do not believe for one moment that President Trump is concerned about our motion in Dáil Éireann today. While acknowledging that immigration policy is the domestic responsibility of any given country, Ireland has a moral obligation to stand up and say what is wrong. Any type of discrimination based exclusively on race, religion or nationality is morally wrong. That is why I have no hesitation in saying so.

However, we have a direct impact and control over our own policy. I find it bemusing that the Government can castigate other governments for their failings without looking at our own. Our failings concerning the international refugee crisis are stark. We are not measuring up to our international obligations in terms of resettlement and relocation. To date, only four unaccompanied minors have been relocated in our country. That is wrong.

Recently I attended a Council of Europe forum and had an opportunity of listening to the first-hand experience of a refugee who had been resettled and rehoused in Germany. The brutality they went through in their mother country, brought home to me just how much Ireland is failing. The Government needs to take that on board.

I also wish to raise the issue of pre-clearance at our airports. Two weeks ago, in somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction to the executive order, the Taoiseach acknowledged that he would carry out a review on pre-clearance at our airports. We need to acknowledge and recognise that the pre-clearance facility is operated by US officials, not Irish ones. Any rejection of pre-clearance at Shannon or Dublin would be a huge inconvenience not to America or President Trump, but to Irish citizens - the 1 million who use pre-clearance at Dublin Airport and the 200,000 who use it at Shannon Airport. It would eliminate our competitive advantage, which many other European airports are intensively lobbying the US administration to achieve. The Government should come out forcefully and say that there is no issue with pre-clearance at our airports.

The Taoiseach is right to go to the White House on 17 March. It may be his last foreign trip. When he goes there, however, he should forcibly highlight the plight of the undocumented Irish in America. The anxiety and fear of families with relatives living in America have certainly intensified since President Trump assumed office.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Across Ireland and the world we have all watched political events unfolding in the US with increasing disquiet. This is particularly so with President Trump's executive order on immigration and the ensuing battle with the judiciary. This is despite the fact that citizens of the seven nations named in the order have killed no Americans in terror attacks on American soil.

The Syrian people, in particular, have been subjected to the worst kinds of violence and injustice over the last few years. As always, civilians have suffered the most with an estimated death toll of 470,000 according to the Syrian Centre for Political Research. An estimated 11.5% of the population have been killed or injured while trying to escape. The appalling humanitarian situation there makes the decision to ban all Syrian refugees from the US incomprehensible. This targeted travel ban is in breach of the US constitution and the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. This builds on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which recognises the rights of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries. Therefore this executive order is a violation of international law and an affront to human dignity.

What about the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish people living and working in the United States? These are people who may have overstayed visas, but who have jobs, families and a way of life there. They were depending on an executive order from the former President, Barack Obama, deferring the deportation of illegal immigrants with jobs and family ties there. As this has stalled in the US supreme court, they are now afraid to leave the US in case they are refused re-entry.

Before Donald Trump's victory the Taoiseach described his populist policies as racist and dangerous. However, the Taoiseach has been a lot more circumspect since President Trump was elected. Fianna Fáil accepts that the Taoiseach needs to visit the White House on St. Patrick's Day. Thankfully, President Trump is not going to be there forever, but our national and international day of celebrating what it means to be Irish across the world will always be there.

I am strongly of the view that the Taoisech must represent the feelings of the Irish people about these immigration policies. Our much talked of close relationship with America can only flourish with honesty and clarity on both sides. However, our own immigration policy is not one to be proud of. Under the EU's resettlement and relocation programme we committed to taking 4,000 refugees and asylum seekers. As of October 2016, some 487 programme refugees have been resettled in Ireland. That is appalling. We need to examine our own policies when we are lambasting those of another nation. We are witnessing the largest global humanitarian crisis the world has seen since the end of the Second World War, and our response will be our legacy.

To quote Confucius, "Wisdom, compassion and courage are the three universally recognised moral qualities of man". None of these qualities is demonstrated in a ban on this most vulnerable group of people. I want to offer my solidarity to all of those affected by the executive order. I hope the US judiciary will succeed in preventing its implementation.

My final quote is from Nelson Mandela who said, "Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronisingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future". We have more in common than what separates us.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. The discussion is clearly about the US executive order on immigration that President Trump has signed into law. The order is, in itself, outrageous and racist in motivation.

The spirit of what the President has sought to do is to cast certain people into a position based on their race and religious belief. It was clear to anyone who watched the former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, say it was crafted in a way that met the requirements of what the President campaigned on but which was also legal. It is clear what the intent was. I am pleased that the checks and balances provided for in the US Constitution have scuppered the particular intent behind this order. Notwithstanding that, there is an opportunity on the Taoiseach's forthcoming visit to Washington to set out very clearly what the Irish people see as the failure of the policy the President put in place and to recognise the true republican credentials that need to be addressed here, giving people rights based on who they are, not their religion, sexual orientation or place of origin. Those are the principles the Taoiseach needs to espouse when he visits Washington in March. It is important that we set out those principles and try to ensure that the US Executive recognises the undocumented status of so many Irish citizens and ensures they are not victimised based on the fact that they are undocumented, that they come from Ireland or that their religion is Catholic in the main.

I want to respond to those in the House and elsewhere who suggest we should remove the pre-clearance facilities at Shannon and Dublin Airports. I represent the constituency of Clare in which Shannon is based. It is vital to recognise the impact of ending pre-clearance. It would make the travel arrangements of the many people who travel for tourism and business more complicated. It would increase the cost of fares based on the increased hassle for airlines and it would not matter a jot to President Trump or those seeking to put this immigration ban in place. The only people who would be inconvenienced would be those travelling between Ireland and the United States of America. I contend that it would be better to be refused entry in Shannon or Dublin than in New York, Boston or Atlanta. For that reason, we must keep cool heads and use the diplomatic channels that exist to set out our principles and understanding of how two countries should interact in a diplomatic way.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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In the three minutes I have, it would be difficult to fit in all of the outrageous and grotesque behaviours of Donald Trump, not only during his campaign but already in office as President. His comments during the campaign and since have been racist, sectarian, sexist and homophobic. It appears to many that there are no boundaries on what he might say. Comments which only ten years ago would have been considered beyond the Pale for the most right-wing and craven elements in the Republican Party are now tolerated and considered merely controversial. I have plenty of criticisms of previous presidents from Bush to Clinton and, indeed, Obama, many of which are related to domestic policy and may relate to imperialist interventions in foreign countries and unconscionable military actions. However, there are those who would have it that President Donald Trump is being subjected to an unfair level of scrutiny and that progressives and the left are loath to criticise Democrats. Deputy Mattie McGrath made a point along those lines. It is not the case, however. Indeed, much of the last term saw expectations of significant change dashed and, indeed, military interventions, drone strikes and a significant number of deportations which are a stain on President Obama's record. Much of that policy was shameful.

I recognise that President Trump, much as I do not like it, is the legitimately elected US President. That he won the election much be respected. However, we must oppose collectively his extreme, unacceptable and dangerous polices and challenge them on an ongoing basis. The important point about Trump is what he, his words and the executive order represent. He is legitimising hatred. It is now an acceptable policy for the US Government to treat persons from Muslim backgrounds as under suspicion of terrorism. Through his words and actions, he has created a situation where it is acceptable to categorise an entire group of people as a threat to the US merely by reason of their religion or country of origin. It is racism as an acceptable policy. His words have given the far right and neo-Nazis around the world, whatever he is himself, succour and encouragement. He has pushed the boundaries of acceptable debate to a level that is beyond comprehension and which accepts and tolerates racism, sectarianism, sexism and homophobia. The actions of President Trump as regards the executive order are abhorrent to me and anyone with any sense of decency and fairness. The order, which has become known as a Muslim ban, is arbitrary, vicious and racist.

In my last few seconds, I note to the Taoiseach that I am aware he has said he will travel to America despite opposition in the House. It is essential that when he is in the USA, it is not a celebration. He must challenge President Trump in relation to the undocumented Irish and his policies. Not only on St. Patrick's Day but on an ongoing basis, the Taoiseach must make it clear that the policies, words and actions of President Trump are not acceptable to the Irish people.