The embassy in Washington DC is in ongoing contact with the US authorities across the full range of our interests, including the status of Irish citizens living in the US. In this regard, and despite what any of us might wish, the reality is that at present there seems no likelihood of any special measures being introduced to regularise the position of undocumented Irish people in the US.
Our embassy and consulates maintain a close working relationship with Irish immigration groups in the United States. Through this channel, and through their broader contacts with the Irish community and their representatives, the embassy and the consulates monitor the situation with regard to the undocumented Irish in the United States.
An annual sum – $356,000 in 2003 – has been provided in the Vote for Foreign Affairs to assist groups in the US working with Irish immigrants there. When I met the Irish immigration working committee in New York last week, I announced details of the grants from this allocation for 2003-04 and expressed my appreciation to them for the practical support and advice they provide to Irish immigrants, including the undocumented, in the US. The diversity programme – DV – or Schumer visa lottery was introduced in 1994, and remains an important avenue of legal emigration from Ireland to the US.