Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I ask Deputy Costello to allow me make my points in the short time available to me. If I have time, I will answer Deputy Costello's questions.

I have heard many things on the doorsteps about social welfare abuse, people vaulting over housing lists and all sorts of similar abuses and, as far as I am concerned, most of this is folklore and myth. However, there is a capacity in every nation to drift into difficulties as has happened in the case of France where great difficulties have flowed from its immigration debate. That country has a long way to go to reach the position of Ireland today.

There is time for a debate on the issue and I am certain there will not be a party political divide. I am not surprised to hear that everybody on the other side of the House has one point of view and everybody on this side of the House has a contrary and opposite point of view and, therefore, it is a party political issue. I am not surprised that everybody on this side of the House is making hay out of it and everybody on the other side is using it as a stick with which to beat the Government. It is unfortunate that people should stoop to that kind of debate.

Some members of the Opposition should be honest with themselves and stand up and admit there is a necessity for the substance of this referendum. Fine Gael has been honest in that respect.

The people of Ireland are capable of distinguishing between the issues at an election. There is evidence from 1959 of a referendum on the abolition of the PR system which was rejected by the Irish people on the same day as its proposer, Fianna Fáil, was successful in the presidential election. The Irish people in 1959 were capable of distinguishing between party political allegiance and core issues of democracy. I am assuming that on 11 June, they will equally be able to distinguish between party political loyalties in the local and European elections and issues that go to the core of our citizenship. It is reckless for some on the opposite side to suggest there is a racist intention on this side of the House.

On the substantive issue of the referendum, I agree there is a necessity to close this loophole. Like everyone else, I am aware of large-scale abuses, of people presenting as refugees with unbelievable stories about the problems they experienced at home and fantastical stories about how they got to Ireland in the first place to avoid the application of the Dublin Convention. In fairness to the Minister he has made significant progress in closing off loopholes in the area through the designation of safe countries of origin in a sensible way and through consultation with all stakeholders and parties. He has tightened the procedures for appeal so that these appeals are not strung out and do not involve a disproportionate cost to the State.

This proposed amendment of the Constitution zeroes in on the issue of the loophole created by the Good Friday Agreement. The objections have not been exclusively party political. There have been objections from Bruce Morrison, Mark Durkan and Maurice Manning, who are fairly trustworthy people in the eyes of most observers. Naturally their objections have found voice in this House. It is quite sensible to consider those objections quite carefully and they should not simply be dismissed as drivel or childish. People in power need to retain the humility that allows them to consider all points of view with courtesy.

I have heard all the same anecdotal evidence about what is happening in the maternity hospitals from doctors and other medical practitioners and it is not difficult to acknowledge there is a problem. Even the people who come here from the various non-EU states admit they want a better life for their children and acknowledge they are using the loophole.

The real victims in this area are not the Irish mothers who must wait or the staff of the maternity hospitals who are overworked; the victims are the mothers themselves who arrive in late pregnancy with no medical records. There is no doubt that this must be stopped. I am confident the simplicity of the issue will ensure that the Irish people accept it in the spirit in which it is intended.

On the substantive issue, it is essential that an EU-wide law on economic migration be created not for internal migration but for migration from non-EU states. This is at the core of the problem. Everyone who presents for refugee status is essentially an economic migrant. We do not have sufficient EU-wide coherent policies in this area. We have to close this loophole in the short term because it is placing unfair burdens on our maternity system. It was never the intention of the citizenship or of the Oireachtas to create a birthright citizenship in 1999. Effectively, we stumbled upon it as a result of the change that occurred at that time.

Will the Minister tell us more about the statistics that ground his view that this is an urgent matter? The Minister has to address the issue of when he first met the masters on this issue and whether he had other options in mind. Will he provide the legal advice provided to him on the necessity for a constitutional referendum?

In general, I am happy to support the referendum because there is a need for it. However, it could have been approached in a better way.

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