Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I will address this topic under three headings, the first being the question of the procedure by which the matter came before the House. The others are the urgency and timing of the referendum and the substantive issue. I am the chairman of the Fianna Fáil justice policy group and we spoke to the Irish Refugee Council earlier this year. I have spoken on the immigration issue a number of times in this House. I am also a member of the All-Party Committee on the Constitution so I do not come to this issue cold, so to speak. I have an interest in and have spoken on it before.

On the procedural question of why we are having a debate today, as a member of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party I can state that we were not informed of this decision to recall the House or to hold this referendum; I regard it as unfortunate that I heard the news on the radio. I have served for 18 months on the All-Party Committee on the Constitution investigating the matter of property rights. Admittedly, the issue of property rights is very complex and has attracted much constitutional consideration in the Supreme Court over the last few decades but citizenship is an equally complex issue and is worthy of the contemplation, at least, of the All-Party Committee on the Constitution, if not a wider body of interest groups which could make submissions.

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