Alan Kelly (Labour)

Yesterday evening, I spent nearly two hours speaking with members of the ILIR and others. I spent some time in Boston with a number of my friends who are in the US illegally. Their plight is scary. They are disgusted and bewildered by the Taoiseach's latest comments and do not understand why he would make them.

Since the failure of the US Congress to pass immigration reform legislation last June, the ILIR and others have been working closely with the Irish and US Governments to introduce a bilateral agreement. This is achievable because the Irish have a strong lobby in the US. If agreements can be made with Chile, Singapore and Australia, surely an agreement can be reached with Ireland. The idea is to have a permanent swap of work visas. I will not go into the detail too much because a certain amount must remain confidential.

When the ILIR met with Ed Gillespie, President Bush's closest adviser and the son of a Donegal man, he admitted that the American Government had never heard of Bruce Morrison's proposal. That the Irish Government, despite claiming to be pushing the proposal, has never lobbied in respect of it is unbelievable. Why would it not pursue the proposal? This is a cause of concern for everyone. Subsequently, the Taoiseach made his insulting comments on the most pivotal day for the Irish diaspora. He should apologise, as they were unacceptable. When the Taoiseach stated that people do not really know what they are talking about, did he mean Niall O'Dowd and Bruce Morrison? The comments regarding people sitting on bar stools beggar belief.