Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

This proposed amendment to the Constitution will restore to the Oireachtas the power to legislate for the conditions for the granting of citizenship to children of non-nationals. Ireland is not unique in this respect. All other member states of the European Union provide for the acquisition of citizenship through legislation or regulation. None of these member states has a constitutional right to citizenship by virtue of birth in its territory.

The proposed amendment will still leave Ireland with one of the more liberal arrangements on citizenship requirements. A three-year residence requirement compares favourably with the citizenship laws of our neighbours within the European Union. This amendment will recognise and acknowledge the stake that established non-nationals have in Irish society by ensuring that their children born here have the entitlement to be Irish citizens.

Critics of this proposal make two cases. They say that it represents an undermining or a reneging of the Good Friday Agreement and that it is a racist proposal. Both are wrong, spurious and, frankly, inflammatory. Let me deal with the Good Friday Agreement first, by stating clearly that the Agreement is not being altered. The Government was especially conscious that Article 2 of the Constitution had its origins in the British-Irish Agreement and we never had any intention of breaching this agreement.

It is for this reason that we and the British Government issued the clear and unequivocal interpretative declaration which 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.

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