Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Brendan Smith, raised the issue of the undocumented Irish in the US during a Dáil debate recently.
The local TD said, "In all engagements with US politicians, be it from the President to members of his government or with Members of Congress, we must always emphasise the urgent need to make progress on regularising the status of the undocumented Irish in the US.
"The best estimates are that there are fewer than 10,000 people but the overwhelming majority of those Irish people are working, paying their taxes, rearing families and contributing very well to US society, yet they do not have residency status. We need to make progress in that regard.''
In response, Taoiseach Micheál Martin stated that the Government have been close previously to getting a resolution to that issue, falling short by just one vote on one occasion.