Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

As the Minister who categorically ended granting of citizenship to investors under the "passports for sale" scheme, I am entitled to state that any abuse of citizenship, by which it is conferred on persons with no tangible link to the nation or the State whether of parentage, upbringing or of long-term residence in the State, flies in the face of Article 9.2 and devalues the concept of citizenship. That is the reason the Government is putting forward this proposal — to eliminate an aspect of our law that exposes Irish citizenship to abuse.

The nature of the abuse is that it is possible for somebody with no real connection with Ireland, North or South, to arrange affairs so as to give birth to a child in Ireland, North or South. By virtue of our laws as they currently stand, that child acquires an entitlement to Irish citizenship. That carries with it a number of important benefits for the child in question. As an Irish citizen, the person is also an EU citizen with all the rights of free movement and other treaty rights that go with that status. In addition, as an Irish citizen, the person can avail of the common travel area arrangements that exist between Ireland and its near neighbour, the UK.

In international terms, this is an extraordinary situation. No other country in the world has a situation where citizenship can be acquired through this most tenuous of links with the country of citizenship and which carries with it such a wide range of free movement and other options for the citizen.

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