Vol. 541 No. 2
231 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his discussions with the United States authorities regarding the need to have the position of undocumented Irish nationals regularised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22534/01]
Following the terrorist attacks in the United States and Washington, I was concerned that there might be a number of injuries and fatalities among the undocumented Irish. I requested the Ambassador in Washington and the Consuls General in New York and Boston to pay particular attention to this issue in their discussions both with US officials and members of the Irish American community in their efforts to trace possible Irish victims of this tragedy.
The US Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner, Mr. James Ziglar, issued a statement on 24 September 2001 in which he urged foreign nationals to come forward with information about friends or family who may have been lost in the terrorist attacks in New York and gave his personal assurance that the INS would not seek to acquire or use information on immigration status provided to local authorities in the rescue and recovery efforts.
I have publicly welcomed this important statement and reiterated my appeal to anyone who may have information about undocumented Irish nationals caught up in the attacks to provide such information to my Department in Dublin or to the Irish Consulate in New York. I have given an assurance that any information given to my Department will be treated with the utmost discretion.
