Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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109. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress to date in securing an E3 visa scheme between Ireland and the United States of America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28295/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Achieving relief for undocumented Irish migrants in the US remains a priority for the Government in our contacts with the United States. Through our Embassy in Washington and our Consulates throughout the U.S., we continue to work closely with high level Government contacts and with many other individuals and groups across Irish America and beyond. The aim of these contacts is to achieve relief for undocumented Irish migrants in the US and to improve channels for legal migration between Ireland and America.

While measures announced last November by President Obama, which could benefit thousands of undocumented Irish immigrants based in the US, were welcome I am conscious that they remain under legal challenge in US Federal Courts and that in any case legislation in Congress is still needed to build on what has been achieved in President Obama's announcement. We continue to express our desire to see a political way forward on this issue which would encourage progress on a comprehensive legislative package by Congress. For that reason the government and our Embassy have been working, and will continue to work, with the Administration and with Republican and Democratic political leaders in the area of immigration reform.

The objective of achieving an E3 visa agreement between Ireland and the United States remains a key element of Ireland's overall position on U.S. immigration reform and one which we regularly emphasise both in contacts with US interlocutors at Ministerial level and through the immigration reform activities of our Embassy in Washington, DC.

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to meet with John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and a number of his Congressional colleagues, when they visited Dublin. The Taoiseach also met with him and we both took the opportunity to re-emphasise our wish to see comprehensive legislative reform so as to provide relief for the undocumented Irish and a legal pathway to allow for future Irish immigration to the US.

The Government has also repeatedly raised the issue of immigration reform during other high level visits with US officials. During the Taoiseach's visit to Washington for St. Patrick's Day, he met with President Obama, Vice President Biden as well as other senior US Administration figures and key Congressional contacts from both sides of the aisle. These meetings provided an important opportunity to reiterate our concerns and aspirations in regard to immigration reform. I also raised these issues, including the possibility of immigration reform legislation, when I met with Vice President Biden in Boston on 30 March. I have also discussed these matters on a number of occasions recently with US Ambassador O'Malley.

The Government as a whole, including my Department in Dublin and our Embassy in Washington, will continue to actively follow up on all of the issues raised in recent contacts with the US Administration, with Congress, in particular with the Republican leadership, and with the US Embassy in Ireland. This includes preparing the ground for movement on an E3 visa arrangement when the opportunity for this arises.