Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

Today is a momentous day in the US and we wish the people well in that country. When the election is over in America, a major diplomatic offensive must be launched on the plight of the undocumented Irish. There are 50,000 undocumented Irish living illegally in the US. Their assets may be frozen at any time, they cannot come home for family funerals and they cannot visit relatives here. They live as fugitives in America. I ask the Deputy Leader to request the Government to undertake a new diplomatic offensive immediately after the presidential election to try to resolve this matter. An article in The Irish Times today reports that the number of deportations of undocumented Irish people from America has greatly increased in recent weeks. Some 27 people have been deported this year, compared to 12 in 2006. I will not go through all the statistics but there has been a great increase. It is a major issue for many families in this country and it should be dealt with. I ask the Deputy Leader to bring it to the attention of the Government and to have the matter debated here.

I support the call by Senator Frances Fitzgerald and others concerning education cuts. When the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, seeks to compare class sizes now with those in previous years, he omits that we now have multi-ethnic classes comprising a multitude of nationalities. Some children cannot speak English in classes, while we also have people with disabilities so we are not comparing like with like. What is proposed is a travesty of justice and an assault on our young people. It is bad economics in the long term.