Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Next Monday millions of people will celebrate their Irishness not only in Ireland but throughout the world. There has been a debate about Ministers attending various countries. While it is right they should attend, we should not have a carte blanche approach to sending Ministers, Deputies and Senators to every corner of the world. We should weigh up any decision to ensure State money is spent in the best interest of the State. On a number of occasions I have asked that all the Seanad party leaders and the leader of the Independents should agree a joint motion on the need to deal with 40,000 undocumented Irish emigrants in America who find themselves in a very difficult situation.