Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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48. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the estimated number of Irish persons living in the United States of America without documentation; the recent efforts that have been made to resolve this issue; the number of meetings held; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53974/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I want first of all to reassure the Deputy that the Government remains committed to finding a solution to the plight of the thousands of undocumented Irish in the United States.

By their nature, it is difficult to put exact numbers on undocumented communities, and the thousands of undocumented Irish in the US are no different. Estimates vary as to the numbers but our priority is to assist those who need our help and to find a solution, irrespective of their number.

The Government continues to avail of all opportunities to raise US immigration reform and the status of the undocumented Irish with the US administration and with contacts on Capitol Hill.

Officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, working both here and in the US, are engaged on the issue on an ongoing basis, having regular meetings with their US and Irish community contacts, and I am kept fully informed of developments.

For my own part, during my visit to New York for the UN General Assembly in September, I met with representatives of the four Irish Immigration Centres in the region and a representative of the US-wide Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres.

In addition, I met with a senior State Department official during that visit and I was able to further emphasise the Government’s commitment to this issue when I travelled to Washington DC on 3-5 October.

The Government’s special envoy to Congress on the undocumented, Deputy John Deasy, accompanied me on that most recent visit and together we engaged with senior members of the US administration and with members of Congress, including the Congressional Friends of Ireland Group.

Outside of my own engagement on the issue, Deputy Deasy has visited the US four times since his appointment, in July, September, October, and November.

In addition to contact at political level, officials from our Embassy in Washington, D.C., stay in regular contact with the administration and with congressional contacts on both sides of the aisle.

The Deputy can be assured that officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, both here and in Washington, D.C., will, under my direction, continue to give priority to this issue, mindful of its importance to the thousands of undocumented themselves and their families in Ireland.