Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 108: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the recent legislative initiatives in the US Senate to address the issue of undocumented immigrants including Irish citizens; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18649/07]

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 132: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the immigration reform proposals under consideration in the United States; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18716/07]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position in regard to the regularisation of undocumented Irish in the US; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18769/07]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the position pertaining to the regularisation of status for out of status Irish persons in the United States of America; the discussions he has had with American officials; the initiatives and assistance which is being provided by the Irish Embassy in Washington; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18672/07]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 284: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the outcome of recent discussions he has had with the US authorities with a view to addressing the issue of the undocumented Irish in the US; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19076/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 108, 132, 159, 165 and 284 together.

As Deputies will be aware, efforts in the US Senate to achieve comprehensive immigration reform were not successful in attracting the level of support necessary to ensure its progress at this time. This is undoubtedly a setback for the Irish undocumented and their families here in Ireland. I can assure the House of the Government's determination and resolve to continue to highlight the issue and to work to achieve a satisfactory outcome which will address the needs of our undocumented citizens. This is an issue of the utmost importance and priority for the Government.

On the positive side, there is strong cross-party awareness on Capitol Hill of the Irish dimension to the undocumented issue. Our Ambassador in Washington is extremely active in highlighting our concerns, as are officials of our Consulates across the United States. The Taoiseach and I, and other members of the Oireachtas, have raised this issue on every occasion we met with key figures in the US Administration and on Capitol Hill, and have made known the Government's strong support for measures that would benefit our undocumented citizens.

Our sustained political contacts have been further strengthened by the mobilisation of the Irish community behind the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform — a highly effective organisation which we are pleased to support, including financially.

Deputies are aware that immigration reform is one of the most contentious and high profile political issues in the US. There are strong views on both sides of the argument not only in Congress and the State legislatures but also in business, the trade union movement and US society in general.

On May 17th, a bipartisan coalition of US Senators, including Senator Kennedy, reached what has been characterised as a "grand compromise" on comprehensive immigration reform. Very regrettably however, it did not prove possible to move the bill to a final vote on that occasion.

Subsequently, President Bush went to the Congress on June 12th to meet with Republican Senators. Following that meeting, he announced his support for a $4.4 billion initiative on strengthening border security. The Democratic Leader in the Senate and his Republican counterpart then announced that the reform bill would be brought back to the Senate floor. On 26th June, the Senate voted to proceed with a debate on the bill. I welcomed this as an encouraging advance. However, securing the necessary bipartisan consensus to deliver on this complex and divisive matter always constituted a very considerable challenge, and unfortunately, as we now know, the compromise bill failed to attract sufficient support.

I want to express my thanks and appreciation again to President Bush, and to Senator Kennedy and the many other Senators and Members of the House of Representatives who sought to resolve this complex issue in a balanced and constructive way.

I have asked our Ambassador in Washington for his urgent assessment and overview of the current situation. In the light of this, we will immediately conduct a further thorough review of how best to harness our efforts and resources to try to finally resolve this extremely complex issue.