Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The evidence that we have a serious problem in terms of the integrity of our citizenship law is to be found in the fact that huge and unprecedented pressures have emerged in our maternity hospitals. They are not two separate issues from which I can move, one to the other. They are two sides of the same coin. I have placed in the Library of the Oireachtas copies of the documents relating to my dealings with senior management of the maternity hospitals so that a clear picture can emerge of the nature of those dealings. Anybody who examines those documents will immediately appreciate that I have been motivated at all times by proper considerations, including the overwhelming need to avoid ammunition for racism in Irish political debate.

I do not claim that all of those who give birth to Irish children here seek to remain on that basis. I am aware, anecdotally, however, of women from eastern Europe and elsewhere in the world——

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