Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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26. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the discussions he has had recently with the US Administration and or with Members of Congress regarding the need to progress the immigration reform Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52145/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I refer the Deputy to my response to PQs no. 99, 118, 132, 133 and 151 of 19 November 2013. The situation has not altered appreciably since I made that statement, although I note that on 20 November President Obama made some helpful public comment signalling his willingness to show flexibility on the form in which any deal might be struck between the Democratic and Republican parties on this important issue. For his part, House Speaker John Boehner said on 21 November that immigration reform is “absolutely not” a dead issue, but did not offer a timetable for when he might schedule a vote on legislation. Officials in the Embassy of Ireland in Washington have had a number of further meetings to outline our objectives in relation to relief for currently undocumented Irish migrants in the US and a facility for future flows of legal migration between Ireland and the US.