Seanad debates

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

5:00 pm

Photo of Mark DalyMark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am aware of his longstanding interest in this issue.

Addressing the position of the undocumented Irish and reforming our migration arrangements with the United States remain important priorities for the Government in its relationship with the US Administration and US Congress. The Taoiseach and I discussed immigration issues with President Obama when we met with him on 23 May last year in Dublin. I have also had exchanges during the course of 2011 with the Secretary of State Mrs. Clinton and Senator Patrick Leahy, Chair of the Senate judiciary committee.

Enabling Irish people to apply for E-3 temporary US work visas has been a particular focus of the Government's efforts in the context of our overall ongoing exchanges with the US Administration and Congress on immigration related issues. E-3 visas are non-immigrant worker visas and renewable every two years.

Senators Schumer, Leahy and Durbin and Senators Brown and Kirk had tabled draft Bills which would enable the provision of E-3 visas to Irish applicants. Both Bills have since been referred for examination by the US Senate's judiciary committee and I am pleased that progress is being made towards securing the bipartisan consensus that will be required if a good overall result is to be achieved. During my recent visits to Washington DC and New York, I had further separate contacts with Deputy Secretary Bill Burns of the US State Department and with Senators Leahy, Brown and Schumer and members of the "Friends of Ireland" group in the House of Representatives. I thanked the Senators and the "Friends of Ireland" group for their ongoing efforts in this regard and encouraged them to persist towards reaching a positive outcome. I also assured them of the Government's continuing close interest and support in this connection.

Our embassy is in turn working closely with key stakeholder groups from throughout the Irish-American community. The Taoiseach met last week in New York with representatives from several of these groups, including the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform and the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres. He acknowledged and thanked all these groups and others from within Irish America for their vital help in rallying support behind our collective efforts.

While the advances made so far are heartening, I am conscious that the current US domestic political climate on immigration issues and the presidential elections taking place there later this year mean that nothing can be taken for granted. Therefore, the Taoiseach and I will continue to take every opportunity over the coming weeks and through the St. Patrick's Day period to maintain momentum behind these efforts.

While E-3 visas address future flows between Ireland and the US, we need to continue to seek comprehensive reform to address the issue of the undocumented. The Government will therefore continue to engage closely through the embassy with key players in the US Congress over the period ahead, with a view to further advancing our Irish E-3 visa objectives and those of the undocumented.

Photo of Mark DalyMark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Tánaiste for his response. It is a difficult area, with so many competing elements in Washington. I would like to impress on him that at some stage in the negotiations at committee level in the US Senate, we will be given an E-3 visa at the Australian entry level, which is degree level. We should with all our diplomatic might to say "No" to that. We can give way on the waivers because we understand that the Republican Party cannot support that, but we require the leaving certificate as the educational requirement. I fear that in the horse trading that will take place, we could end up with a very high education threshold, which is not good for many tradesman who want to work legally in the US. It will also stop us down the line using our good contacts with the Clintons in the State Department to look for administrative waivers. Most of the undocumented in the US do not have the education requirements of the Australian E-3 visa. If that requirement is the threshold for the US E-3 visa, it will be of very little use to anybody going for an administrative waiver.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Schumer Bill and the Brown Bill both pitch the education requirement at the leaving certificate level or thereabouts. This is an election year in the United States. Like anywhere else, an election year presents the most difficult set of circumstances, politically, in which to make progress on an issue like this. The Government wants to make progress here. There are broadly similar Bills from both sides of the aisle in the United States Senate. We want to make it clear to Senators Brown and Schumer that we will work with them and support them in every way we can and maintain contact with them on that front. In doing that, we must be mindful not to add to their difficulties in persuading their colleagues to support the Bills they have drafted and brought before the Senate.

We are continuing with the discussions. It is important for us to bear in mind that this is an election year in the United States. The Taoiseach and I have plans to maintain contacts with key figures in Washington to set out our support and to make it clear that we are anxious to see progress made on this matter. We will continue that over the coming weeks. Senators Brown and Schumer were positive in the meetings we had. Senator Leahy, when I spoke to him, was positive. We will work on the positive approach and response we got and help in every way we can to make progress on this issue.