James Breen (Clare, Independent)
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Question 344: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has made representations to Senator Charles Schumer and Mr. Bruce Morrison, who are leading the plight of the undocumented Irish in the US; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42684/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The welfare of the undocumented Irish in the United States is an issue of the highest priority for the Government. In all of my dealings with key figures in the US Congress and Administration, I emphasise our strong support for measures that would enable the undocumented to regularise their status and have open to them a path to permanent residency.

Following the recent mid-term Congressional elections, I wrote to a number of senior US legislators, including Senator Charles Schumer. In writing to the Senator, I took the opportunity to reiterate to him the Government's concerns about the situation of the undocumented Irish and our deep appreciation of his keen interest in this issue. Our Ambassador in Washington is in regular contact with Senator Schumer on this issue, and the Embassy keeps in close contact with his office in Washington, as the Consulate General does also with his office in New York.

I maintain very close contact with our community in the United States. I had another meeting in New York on 10 November with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR), an organisation that is proving highly effective in communicating the Irish dimension to this issue on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, and which the Government is happy to support financially.

Bruce Morrison, who is based in Washington, is also a very well established and regular contact of the Embassy, and a close adviser to the ILIR.

Both Senator Schumer and Bruce Morrison addressed ILIR's well supported rally in New York on 1 December. I very much welcome their strong engagement on this issue and will continue to maintain close contact with them in the critical period ahead.

I look forward to a further intensification of the Government's efforts on behalf of the undocumented, in particular when the incoming Congress is convened in the New Year.