Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

All of the economic resources are put at the disposal of the country to try to give all of these necessary entitlements to the people of Ireland. That is why citizenship of Ireland is so important and valuable.

Then came the EU citizenship which derived from the Maastricht treaty in February 1992. As a result of that treaty, every person holding nationality of a member state is a citizen of the EU. In 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam gave a further right to EU citizens to bring cases in the European Court of Justice against EU institutions. In the Ms Chen case, that is what is being used to fight the decision on residency in the UK. The case is now being fought in the European Court of Justice on grounds of the citizenship of the child Ms Chen had in Ireland. Ms Chen had every right to use all of the methods at her disposal and every non-national who comes here and becomes a citizen has the right to use every method at his or her disposal to ensure the maintenance of benefits accrued.

Deputy Olivia Mitchell spoke of the problems in the maternity hospitals in Dublin. Since 2002, there have been many problems due to the number of non-nationals who have come to Dublin. As the Minister said, there were huge and unprecedented pressures. I spoke recently to a midwife in the Coombe hospital, where it is accepted that pressures exist. We have, however, a health service staffed by doctors and nurses who are equal to the task and can manage the situation despite the admittedly huge pressures. All credit is due to the doctors, midwives and nurses in our maternity hospitals for the great work they have done. These pressures should not continue. There are resources which could be used elsewhere if there were not such pressures on the maternity hospitals.

When women arrive at hospitals in late stages of pregnancy, the first consideration for doctors and nurses is the health and welfare of the mothers and their children. The concern of the doctors and nurses is not about resources or cost, but about having in place the physical resources necessary to protect the health of the mothers and babies. There are problems for a non-national mother arriving during a late stage pregnancy in a maternity hospital in Dublin. No ante-natal history is available to the hospital. Normally, when a woman is pregnant, after a month, six weeks or two months she begins to attend the hospital. Blood groups are sorted out, any problems are taken care of and everything is put in place so that the birth can occur successfully. Everything is arranged so that problems which are foreseen can be dealt with. Some of the non-national women who arrive at hospitals in late pregnancy face danger. In a way, the legislation will be doing a service for these people. The Minister has spoken of "citizenship tourism" and has been castigated for using that term, but from the reports I have heard, having spoken to people in various countries, I know that people have planned to arrive in Ireland at the opportune time to have a child. The Irish people do not appreciate this. Loopholes allowing for such situations should be closed, and anomalies dealt with.

The broad issue of immigration policy also arises. All right-thinking people in the Dáil and in Ireland would like to see a genuine immigration policy appropriate for people who wish to emigrate from countries poorer than Ireland and also for Ireland, which needs people to fill jobs. We do not have enough people to fill all the vacancies. Moreover, most people will accept that the added colour and cultures that have come to Ireland have enriched the country, making it a more cosmopolitan, interesting, exciting and pleasurable place in which to live.

One of our immigrants, Benedicta Attoh, is to run in the local elections in Dundalk. Many of us saw her recently on television. Benedicta is a Nigerian mother of six, with a business in Dundalk, and as I said last night, after voting for my Fianna Fáil colleagues I intend to give her my next highest preference — notwithstanding the possibility of there being a Progressive Democrats candidate's name on the ticket.

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