Written answers

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

Department of Foreign Affairs

Pre-clearance Facilities

8:00 pm

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 509: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his meeting in the US with the Secretary of State; if he discussed the US Pre Clearance facility at Shannon Airport regarding the restrictions imposed on Part 135 Corporate Jet Operators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12971/10]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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On 16 March, I had a very useful meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington. We discussed a broad range of foreign policy issues, including the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iran and Haiti.

Secretary Clinton was particularly interested in the situation in Northern Ireland in the wake of the historic agreement at Hillsborough last month. I thanked the Secretary for her own personal engagement, not least during the two crucial weeks leading up to the agreement at Hillsborough. I also took the opportunity to express our appreciation to Secretary Clinton for the US Administration's continued support for the peace process and for the appointment of Declan Kelly as the US Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland, whose work on the economic dimension will help sustain the political progress.

We had a very useful exchange on the issue of immigration reform and the operation of the working holiday visa agreement, which is a very important bilateral agreement in terms of maintaining engagement and linkage between young people in the U.S. and in Ireland.

We discussed the scope for cooperation on development issues and agreed that the United States and Ireland will co-host an event highlighting global hunger, food security, and nutrition on the margins of the Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York next September.

On the Middle East, I briefed the Secretary on my recent visit to Gaza and also assured her of our full support for the leadership being provided by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to bring the parties closer to proximity talks under the expert guidance of Senator George Mitchell.

The issue of pre-clearance at Shannon did not arise during my discussions with Secretary Clinton but my colleague the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey T.D., has taken up this issue directly with Secretary Napolitano of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and has recently written to her on the subject.

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