Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

Regarding the sentiments expressed yesterday by Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú on illegal Irish immigrants in the US, post September 11 these people, who have been there for perhaps ten or 15 years, or even longer, without green cards are living in fear of being returned home. They cannot come home to weddings and they live in fear of their parents getting sick or dying because they cannot go home for their funerals. We owe something to the people of that wider diaspora and we have an obligation to try our best to facilitate them. As one person expressed it to me, and this is a sad thing to say, they feel that Sinn Féin is the only one looking after them. That is a horrible state of affairs. I know it is a cynical Sinn Féin propaganda effort, but, at the same time, we are neglecting our wider diaspora in America. It is not through local authorities going over to St. Patrick's Day parades that anything will be done. We need the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Cowen, to come to the House and make a statement on how we will facilitate dispensations for these people in America to enable them to receive green cards.

Our argument on the use of the Shannon stopover was based on the proposition that we owed the Americans on the basis of their investment in this country, which is a fair point. The Americans owe the Irish, who built their country. A special dispensation must be introduced and we need, as a matter of urgency, the Minister, Deputy Cowen, in this Chamber making a statement to that effect.