Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 386: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the alternative plan the Government has to help legalise the Irish in the event that the Kennedy-McCain Bill does not succeed. [6874/06]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 387: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give an assurance that the undocumented Irish will be his top priority when he meets President George Bush. [6875/06]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 388: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on whether a bilateral deal with the US involving the two Governments agreeing a similar number of work visas for each country can be achieved; and, if so, his further views on whether a waiver for the undocumented Irish in the US to avail of such visas can be achieved. [6877/06]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 389: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if an assurance will be given that all elected representatives who visit America on 17 March 2006 will make clear that solving the issue of the undocumented Irish is of the highest priority. [6878/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 386 to 389, inclusive, together.

The Government attaches the highest priority to the issue of the undocumented Irish. We raise our concerns in all of our contacts with US political leaders and emphasise the importance of addressing the situation in a positive and sympathetic way. We welcome President Bush's engagement on this issue and the Taoiseach and I look forward to discussing the matter with him when next we meet him.

It is clear that legislating for immigration reform and the situation of undocumented people presents US legislators with a formidable challenge. The debate currently under way in the US Congress highlights the sensitive and divisive nature of this issue. Some members of the US Congress, for example, are strongly opposed to any proposals which would allow undocumented people the opportunity to regularise their status.

As the Deputy is aware, the US Senate has before it a number of proposals. Indications are that the Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss the immigration issue again in early March. The proposals before them include the Bill sponsored by Senator Kennedy and Senator McCain, as well as the Kyl-Cornyn Bill and a compromise text proposed by Senator Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

While the Government's primary focus at present has to be on the current legislative proposals before Congress, and in particular on trying to ensure that the core elements of the Kennedy-McCain Bill are contained in any final compromise text that emerges, we keep under ongoing review the possibility of other approaches that might improve the situation of our undocumented. Overall, and against a background of huge domestic sensitivity in the US on the immigration issue, the situation requires the most rigorous ongoing monitoring and assessment. The Deputy can be assured that the Government's views will be conveyed at the highest levels in the United States over the St. Patrick's Day period.