Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to be here today to contribute to this important debate. There is apparent agreement that there is clear and systematic abuse of Ireland's constitutional right to citizenship. This is a problem. What we need to do, in a rational way, is to identify a solution to this problem. That is what this referendum is about.

It is obvious that citizenship is a fundamental aspect of our political system. However, citizenship is not only concerned with rights. It is also about duties and responsibilities. It is about the relationship between the State and its citizens and the duties of citizens toward other citizens. Abuse can devalue our sense of citizenship and we need to prevent this.

In approaching the solution to this problem the Government was particularly conscious that Article 2 of the Constitution had its origins in the British-Irish Agreement. We wished to maintain the integrity of the agreement in preparing a change to our Constitution. We do not wish to be in breach of the agreement, which imposed obligations on the two Governments. For this reason the Irish and British Governments, the parties to the British-Irish Agreement, have issued an interpretative declaration which is clear and unequivocal in its terms. It acknowledges that the two Governments have considered the current effects and consequences of Article 2 of the Constitution. It states that it was never the intention of either Government that persons born on the island of Ireland to parents who did not have, at the date of birth, a sufficient connection with the island of Ireland would be conferred with Irish citizenship.

Both Governments accept that amending Article 9 is not a breach of the British-Irish Agreement. It is simply not tenable to argue that anyone wanted to see our citizenship laws being abused in a manner that is now all too frequent. The interpretative declaration is a legal document with a status in international law that copperfastens the integrity of the British-Irish Agreement and eliminates the suggestion that there is any breach of the agreement's provisions. That there is and will be no breach of the British-Irish Agreement is now beyond dispute.

To clarify the confusing and confused public statements about this proposed referendum I will set out what will be the constitutional and legal position on citizenship should the amendment be passed by the people. Article 2 and the new Article 9, combined with the enactment of the draft legislation, will have the following effects. A child born on the island of Ireland at least one of whose parents is an Irish citizen or entitled to Irish citizenship will continue to enjoy, by virtue of Article 2 of the Constitution, a constitutional right to Irish citizenship. Thus, a child born in Belfast to parents at least one of whom is an Irish citizen or entitled to Irish citizenship continues to have a constitutional right to Irish citizenship. A child born on the island of Ireland at least one of whose parents is a British citizen will be entitled to Irish citizenship. This right will derive from statute. The obligation to grant citizenship to this category of persons when born in Northern Ireland is provided for in Article 1(vi) of the British-Irish Agreement and Annex 2 to that agreement.

A child born on the island of Ireland at least one of whose parents is entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on his or her period of residence will be entitled to Irish citizenship. This right will derive from statute. The obligation to grant citizenship to this category of persons when born in Northern Ireland is provided for in Article 1(vi) of the British-Irish Agreement and Annex 2 to that agreement. Article 1(vi) of and Annex 2 to the British-Irish Agreement are thus being complied with. A child born on the island of Ireland at least one of whose parents is entitled to reside in the State without any restriction on his or her period of residence will be entitled to Irish citizenship. This right will derive from statute. A child born on the island of Ireland at least one of whose parents has been lawfully resident on the island of Ireland for not less than three out of the four years immediately preceding the child's birth will be entitled to Irish citizenship, except where the parent was during that period residing in the island of Ireland pending the outcome of an application for refugee status or pursuant to a permission to reside for educational purposes. This right will derive from statute.

Through the referendum we will confer on the Oireachtas the power to legislate for the conditions for granting citizenship to children of non-nationals. We will not be unique in this respect. All other member states of the European Union provide for the acquisition of citizenship through legislation or regulation. None of those member states has a constitutional right to citizenship by virtue of birth in its territory. Notwithstanding that, even after the proposed amendment is passed we will still provide for the right to citizenship for certain categories of persons in our Constitution. However, the right to acquire Irish citizenship for persons born in Ireland who do not have at least one parent who is an Irish citizen or entitled to become an Irish citizen will now be regulated by statute.

We also need to protect our laws from being used to abuse European citizenship. We know from the Chen case currently before the European Court of Justice that the acquisition of Irish citizenship by children of non-nationals — with no sufficient connection to Ireland — has implications for other member states. That case concerns the birth in Belfast of a child to a Chinese woman who is claiming a right to reside in Britain by virtue of the Irish citizenship of her child. It is common ground in that case that the reason Ms Chen went to Belfast was to ensure her child, when born, would acquire Irish nationality, thereby enabling her mother to raise a possible claim to remain in the United Kingdom. This situation illustrates an unacceptable consequence of Article 2 of the Constitution. This abuse is not what the Governments and the Irish people expected would occur, but it has occurred and we need to take corrective measures. Hence the proposed referendum.

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