Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I will assist the Chair in that I may not use the full time available to me. If there is time remaining I would be happy to give it to any of my colleagues.

I welcome this debate and I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, to the House. Like me, he comes from the west and knows theimplications of this debate and of the ultimate passage of this Bill on many families throughout the west, in particular, but also throughout the country.

I am delighted to see that Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy, who have had such a prominent role in promoting Irish affairs in the United States, have come together on a cross-party basis to put this kind of proposal before the US Senate with the support of the US House of Representatives. Many of us who have travelled to the United States over the years have had the opportunity to meet with Senators and Congressmen, particularly those who support the Irish cause and those who would see themselves as part of the strong Irish lobby. For many years other named individuals, such as former Senator Morrison, who supported Bills on visas have had the best interests of the Irish people at heart in trying to frame certain measures and policies to alleviate the kind of difficulties our emigrants have been encountering. This is the boldest effort to date in terms of trying to redress the situation that has evolved over the years and is a breath of fresh air to many families.

It is clear that people succeeded for many years in finding ways around a system that existed and, with the acceptance, to some extent, of the US authorities in recognising that people found various means of beating the system to return to Ireland on occasion and then to get back to their workplace and, in many cases, to their families and friends. With the clampdown following 11 September 2001, the kind of procedures that have been put in place on all borders leading to the United States have created a difficult situation for many families. Considering the kind of representations which we receive, I have seen a notable increase in the concerns of families because many of their sons and daughters have not been able to return for happy occasions like weddings and, much more sadly, for the funerals of mothers, fathers, uncles and aunts. That is what has brought about much of the trauma associated with this matter. It is clear that a real effort is being made in the United States. It is also good to see that both Houses here are taking this proactive approach and that there is acceptance of it across the political divide.

The problem has been exaggerated in the United States where for many years individuals saw themselves as being there for a short period, building up the necessary reserves to come back, buy a plot of land, build a house and set up a family. In many cases that did not happen, however, and many such individuals went on to get married in the United States and set up families and homes within an economy of which they were a part, often paying taxes through their social security numbers but yet not enjoying the rights applicable to those with the proper legal documentation. That was particularly sad. The position of such people needs to be addressed without delay.

I compliment the various efforts, not only of the named individuals in the United States but particularly of those many other Congressmen and Senators who do not necessarily always get marked down as pushing the Irish agenda but who are very much doing so behind the scenes in assisting the other Senators on this. I also compliment the efforts of others, not only of the Ministers and the Taoiseach for their work but also of the Oireachtas delegations mentioned which have been involved and which have worked on a parliament to parliament basis to bring about the necessary changes.

The religious orders also have played an important role, in working with the communities in the United States in a quiet way and in working with the people who have fallen through the cracks having travelled to the other side of the ocean, who have not succeeded in getting work or who have not succeeded in sustaining the pace of life over there. The kind of work to which I refer in particular is done by the Irish emigration centres and other support groups, which have been in place to assist, as they have in England and in other jurisdictions. I would be familiar with the situation, particularly along the east coast, both in Boston and New York, and I have seen the tremendous work that has been done.

It is also worth noting in a debate like this, not for any reason but to show how much has changed in a few years, that there is now little emigration to the United States whereas 20 or 30 years ago, and long ago, it was a necessity because of the economic situation here. It is particularly helpful that this economy is now in a position to welcome back many of those who emigrated to the US over the years and I hope that trend can continue.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the efforts of the Irish diplomatic service, and our ambassadors and the staff within our permanent offices in the US who continually battle and work with both sides on resolving the detail of the necessary legislation to ensure that a Bill could be introduced. The politicians, like all good ones, appear when the final work is done. While they set a policy framework, detailed discussions and work is done elsewhere.

I have visited the United States on many occasions and have met with many of these individuals. I have seen the difficulties which they have endured. We need to continue the lobbying effort because there are other issues relating to other ethnic groups. These would have a much greater impact on the economy of the United States because of the numbers involved and would have a desire to see their situations regularised. We must continue our efforts to ensure that we do not get sidetracked by those issues. There are probably reasons that the Irish case is different, largely, we would argue, because of the historic nature of the initial Irish emigration in building the foundation blocks of the United States and the need recognise such effort now by ensuring that our more recent emigrants are catered for in a proper way.

There were a couple of references made to our own policies on immigration. We need to look into our hearts and decide on this issue, and work towards proper immigration policies. There has been an effort to draw parallels, but I am not so sure that they are as obvious as some would seek to suggest. It is definitely the case that there are people who come to this country well intentioned. Probably the vast majority of them come very well intentioned and their reputation is sullied to some extent by those who come with dubious ideas regarding the social welfare system, a system which our emigrants did not have in the United States.

Notwithstanding that the parallels are not as obvious as some would seek to suggest, there are people who come to this country seeking asylum who where clearly being victimised in their own countries and whose lives were at risk. There are genuine cases and these must be addressed. There is also the issue, of course, that people wish to travel here for economic reasons, which is the same reason many of our people travelled to the United States, and we must address that in a serious and careful way.

This is not to suggest that we should open the floodgates simply because the United States is looking kindly on us in this particular circumstance. For many years the authorities there did not do so and they deported at will because they needed an immigration policy that respected the economic reality of their country, namely, that it could not provide for everybody in every other jurisdiction in the world which was in economic difficulty. Our social welfare system has probably made us somewhat more attractive than other destinations and whatever policy is ultimately brought forward must balance all of that. Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly support what the Government, the Seanad, the Oireachtas and all parties are doing in regard to this issue and hope that we can continue to assist in whatever way we can to ensure that this Bill is finally enacted.