Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Tánaiste to the House. I know that on 4 October 2011 he answered questions on this issue raised by Deputy Naughten. Things have since moved on. The Tánaiste had several meetings on the issue of the new visa programme and the E-3, the most critical of which was with Senator Brown of the US Senate. The Australians have an E-3 visa programme and we are looking for an Irish E-3 programme, but what will be the educational requirements? The Schumer Bill is being brought in to the US Senate along with a high tech visa Bill. If that happens, I fear that tradesmen who are currently unemployed in Ireland will not be able to apply for visas to go to the US.

What sense is the Tánaiste getting from US Republican Party leaders such as Mr. Mitch McConnell about their view on this? Will they insist on a higher threshold than the Schumer Bill, which also had a waiver provision? I know the Republican Party will not support any legislation with a waiver provision for currently undocumented people. In his discussions with the State Department and the embassy, does the Tánaiste feel there is a possibility that down the line, we could receive an administrative waiver similar to that which the Mexicans have achieved for their nationals? I understand that last year, 48,000 administrative waivers were given to Mexicans for their visa programme with the US.

Politics is local. It is interesting to note that Senator Brown is fighting for a seat in Massachusetts, luckily enough for us I suppose, and it is a very tight race. He might be able to convince the Republican Party leadership that if he was seen to deliver for the Irish, it would serve him well in the election. Perhaps I am being too political at this stage. I am sure the best of intentions will be on all sides. However, I am concerned that we will have another visa Bill with a very high education threshold and which will not be of any benefit to the current number of unemployed tradespeople in Ireland. While I accept that we are unlikely to get any waiver in this legislation if the Schumer Bill is merged into the Brown Bill, will we pursue administrative waivers with the Obama Administration? I look forward to hearing the Minister's response on the number of meetings he had while he was in Washington.