Eamon Gilmore
Question:4 Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on his meeting on 17 November 2007 with former President Clinton. [30824/07]
Ceisteanna — Questions (Resumed).
Ireland-US Relations.
Michael Ring
Question:5 Deputy Michael Ring asked the Taoiseach if, following his announcement of his telephone conversation with Senator Ted Kennedy, he will confirm the discussion that took place in that conversation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34826/07]
Enda Kenny
Question:6 Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach if the arrangements have been finalised for his forthcoming address to the joint sitting of the United States Houses of Congress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35358/07]
Enda Kenny
Question:7 Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach when he next expects to visit the United States; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3538/08]
Enda Kenny
Question:8 Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will convene a meeting of the Ireland-America Economic Advisory Board during his next visit to the United States; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3539/08]
Enda Kenny
Question:9 Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach the arrangements in place within his Department for maintaining contact with the Ireland-America Advisory Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3540/08]
Eamon Gilmore
Question:10 Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach if arrangements have been finalised for his proposed address to a joint sitting of the US Senate and House of Representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1482/08]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 10, inclusive, together.
I was deeply honoured to be invited to address the US Joint Houses of Congress this year. While the arrangements have not yet been finalised, I expect that it will be sometime around the end of April or early May.
I met with former President Clinton on Saturday, 17 November in Government Buildings. We discussed developments in Northern Ireland and progress made under the Ireland-Clinton Foundation HIV-Aids Partnership.
I spoke with Senator Kennedy on 7 December when we discussed the issue of immigration in the United States and the undocumented Irish in particular. I emphasised to the Senator that the resolution of this issue has been, and will continue to be, a priority for the Government and I referred to the strong all-party support in this House on the issue.
I will be meeting with the US President during my annual visit to the United States for St. Patrick's Day on 17 March. While the programme for this trip is not finalised, I intend to take the opportunity while there to meet again with the Ireland America Economic Advisory Board.
My Department maintains contact with the board principally through the Irish Embassy in Washington, as well as through annual visits and meetings. As the House will be aware, the board members give voluntarily of their time and expertise in a number of ways. I welcome and greatly appreciate their ongoing advice and support.
I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach is to address the Joint Houses of the US Congress in April or May. It is a great honour for him and indeed, for the country, and I wish him well.
In his various contacts, as regards both his address to Congress and his St. Patrick's Day visit, how does the Taoiseach intend to further explore possibilities for resolving the problems faced by the undocumented Irish in the United States? What are the principal messages he intends to convey in the address he will give to the Joint Houses? Does he intend to address the widespread concerns in this country over the economic situation, particularly as regards the manner in which economic developments in the US might impact on the Irish economy?
Deputies are probably aware that it is unlikely there will be a resolution of the immigration issue in the US before the presidential election. All of the main players and all our supporters in both Houses of Congress have made that clear to us since last year. We were very disappointed that efforts by the US Congress to pass the comprehensive reform legislation were unsuccessful, because we had put a good deal of effort into that, as had Members on all sides of this House. However, we are continuing to explore bilateral options to regularise the status of the majority of the thousands of undocumented Irish, particularly those who have been in the US for many years, and to put in place an ordered system of legal migration from Ireland to the United States. We have engaged in wide-ranging consultation with members of Congress, the US Administration and the Irish community there, to assess how this might be achieved.
There are strong differences of opinion, even among our supporters and people who have been very helpful to us over the years. I believe many people have been persuaded of the need to provide future opportunities for Irish people to work and travel in the US, which would also be open to the undocumented. However, it will be extremely difficult to secure such an arrangement, given the nature of the immigration debate in Washington. For obvious reasons that are not Irish-related, this is a passionate and divisive debate.
The Dáil agreed a motion last November supporting efforts to establish reciprocal bilateral arrangements which would benefit Irish and American citizens seeking to work and travel between and within the two countries, and reiterating our strong commitments to continuing engagement towards resolving the difficulties being experienced by the undocumented. This will be the third year in which most of my time with the leaders in both the House of Representatives and on Capitol Hill will have been taken up on this issue, in an effort to tease out the difficulties. There is a strong sense in Washington that immigration reform will remain a difficult issue for the foreseeable future. While US political leaders fully acknowledge that the number of undocumented Irish is extremely small in the overall context, there is an understandable reluctance to single out one particular group for preferential treatment, and therein lies the difficulty. I do not believe anyone is against our cause, but when taken in its totality they cannot deal with it. We will, of course, continue our efforts for as long as it takes, and I shall certainly work on it again next month at the meetings that I will have. The Deputy mentioned many other issues. It is a matter of trying to raise these issues within the time available but the economy, immigration, the North, Europe and issues relating to climate change policies in Europe are the issues I hope to focus on.
I am glad the Taoiseach is taking this issue very seriously. When he goes to America and addresses both Houses of Congress it is important that he refers to the undocumented Irish, given that in the past month a young person from our country who was sick with pneumonia could not go to the authorities or the hospitals because he was afraid he would be identified and sent home. He was sent home but the problem was he came home in a coffin. That is sad. These are our citizens whom we must protect.
The caucuses are taking place in relation to the presidential election but the only person who is talking about immigration is John McCain. The Irish-American politicians over here addressed this House and told the Taoiseach and me what they would do for the Irish, yet when they have an opportunity now they do not appear to be too worried about the undocumented or about Ireland. It is important that the Taoiseach goes out there and ensures we get the bilateral agreement. As he has said, the numbers are small. Why then can we not do a deal between ourselves and America?
Given that there are American citizens in Ireland who are in the same position as our citizens in America, I do not know why we cannot do a deal. Is Senator Ted Kennedy on board in regard to our undocumented? The Taoiseach had discussions with him and, perhaps, he will tell the House if Senator Kennedy supports our case and what can be done to get this bilateral agreement. As the Taoiseach has said, this House passed an agreed joint motion that we try to do something for the undocumented.
The Deputy and I have the same end result in mind in this regard. Two years ago I looked very closely at the models where there are bilateral agreements in other countries. Many of the bilateral agreements that could be used would not help many of the old cases. That is the problem. One could get a bilateral agreement like the Australian one for young people, with a certain number of visas or permits per year but that would not do anything for the old cases and would not solve our problem. The support for Ireland on this issue is strong. Senator Clinton, Senator McCain, Senator Kennedy and others are strong supporters. For understandable reasons, and I understand them totally, all of them had to get off the bus on this issue last year and nobody more so than Senator John McCain.
That is right.
Senator John McCain took a very forward view but he had to reverse at high speed and I understand why. I think, however, at another time he will come back as a supporter. What we have to do here in a political way is to work as best we can on our friends on the Hill because there is no chance of getting this together if we do not have Republicans and Democrats on our side. We need both and we have to continue to nurture both sides to win support. The Kennedy-McCain relationship almost worked — it was a pity it did not — but we will have to come back on that. We all know the game and I am afraid the game will not resume until next year.
Does the Government hold annual hearings in the US and elsewhere to discuss the needs of Irish emigrants? How much of the task force policy document on immigrants has been implemented by the Government?
The Deputy is referring to the arrangements we have for citizens who emigrate. That is a major issue. The Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Foreign Affairs and Enterprise, Trade and Employment work closely on that issue. We have the green card here for people coming in who are required in various professions and businesses. We have a liberal regime on that but on other sides there are other difficulties and issues. The new immigration Bill is one of the more important Bills to come before the House this year because of the huge number of loopholes and areas that have to be dealt with in the legislation that we never had before. We have been working on immigration legislation since 1935 and a number of amendments have been made since then. I will give three examples. There is a huge Chinese community here. All the issues relating to education, English language training, visas and permits have to be tidied up. We have a sizeable Brazilian community but they are not covered by any of the regulations. The legislation also must address bogus marriages which, let us be honest about it, is a major problem. They come from a range of nationalities.
I wish to ask three questions. I am acutely aware of the complexity of the whole immigration business and agree it will not be possible to address it unless there is all-round agreement on both sides. I received a letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated 29 January, in which he said that on the ground in Washington on a daily basis the ambassador and the personnel there are in discussion with Congressional members, Senator Schumer, Kennedy and so on, in respect of arrangements for a bilateral agreement, following the unanimous decision of the Dáil. I understand the difficulties associated with that. In regard to the bilateral proposal being followed through by the Government here, is that a bilateral agreement on the basis of all Ireland, North and South, because obviously the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly are interested in this also? If one follows through the bilateral agreement it should be on an island basis because the next 25 to 50 years will require that type of linkage both ways, to the island of Ireland and the US, if we are to compete with the challenges from other locations around the world and keep that flexibility of Ireland and America alive. Is it being followed on that basis?
I appreciate that the Government and the Department make money available to some extent for looking after Irish people in the US. I make a plea to the Taoiseach to look particularly at the elderly Irish who live in some of the major cities such as New York and other locations where they find themselves in fixed rented accommodation for a long period. Many of these tenement quarters have been taken over by particular nationalities. In the middle of all this there may well be an elderly Irish person who is isolated, lonely and alone but looked after to some extent by the voluntary organisations there. These organisations have a database available and they make good use of the money the Government makes available to them. In his address to both Houses I ask him to recall these people who worked hard when times were difficult and played their part in building up the economy of the United States. We should try not to forget them in that context. I appreciate the fact that money is given but whether it is spent to best effect is the issue.
Given the economic challenges the world faces and that we as a consequence face, I ask the Taoiseach to look at the question of closer relationships with universities, technological centres and business in the US. I welcome yesterday's announcement in respect of Shannon. Our university sector, our institute of technology sector and our business sector need to develop stronger linkages with those sectors in the US, out of which will come new research and development and new jobs.
It is fair to say the Taoiseach will have an opportunity when he addresses the joint Congress later this year to speak to America at an opportune time. I note that in the Taoiseach's earlier reply to Deputy Gilmore he stated he will be devoting a portion of his address to the US Congress to the issue of economic affairs. In the course of that address, will the Taoiseach highlight the importance of US-based multinational jobs in this country, as I am sure he will? At the last US presidential election, the then Democratic candidate, Senator Kerry, proposed a new taxing regime for US-owned companies outside the US, which would have had a very detrimental effect on US business in Ireland. I ask the Taoiseach to highlight the importance of US investment in this country in the course of his speech because the two great parties of America, the Republicans and the Democrats, will be finalising their platforms from April onwards and it is important to stress the importance of that investment to a small, open economy such as Ireland's.
I agree with Deputy Kenny on immigration. It is a matter of trying to work our way through the issue and reach agreement. While I see the sense of the Deputy's point on the North, I am not sure of the legal issue or what that would open up to the other citizens of the UK if we were to reach a bilateral agreement as it would be open to anyone in the UK. Nonetheless, I take the point and will raise the matter with those involved.
With regard to the welfare organisations, between the UK and the USA we are, thankfully, investing a substantial amount of money. The Deputy's point is that we should focus that investment on the older Irish. The DÍON grants are doing a good job in that regard in the UK and that money is now being used to lever further funding through UK local and municipal authorities to help with housing trusts and funds. It is doing good work and is certainly beneficial to the aged Irish there. We have also directly helped some of the centres which work in the community, operate meals on wheels schemes and help the elderly Irish in the UK. This operates a little differently in the USA, but I will raise the point with the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern.
Deputy Hayes is correct with regard to investment. We had more than one week of anguish on that proposal four years ago because Senator Kerry made a very strong point and, as the House will recall, we were on high alert to lobby against that. There have been renewed soundings in this regard and we have been watching the situation carefully. We will obviously lobby on the issues. Of course this sounds a very attractive policy from the US perspective. The good news is that many of the multinational companies are not in favour and so will also be lobbying against it. However, it is an issue on which we will closely focus and we will work to deal with it.
Overall, we will do everything we can to keep our contacts bipartisan. It will obviously be a difficult year but it is in our interest to remain supportive of both the parties in the US. While there will be a winner and a loser in the presidential election, in terms of how things operate on the Hill, particularly in the Senate, nothing will get done unless we have both of them on our side. We learned that with regard to the immigration issue but on many other issues we need friends on both sides to get things done.