Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

One gets the impression, as the previous speaker said, from all the hype that this referendum has brought up that, by passing this referendum, the Irish people would solve all the immigration and asylum problems that we could ever have once and for all. However, closing this loophole will rectify only a tiny part of the overall problem. By holding the referendum now, this Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government seems to want to get the soundbite message to the electorate that they are the parties to clamp down on immigration. They know that this is currently a populist issue, with over 60% of voters agreeing that there should be some tidying up of citizenship eligibility criteria. While acknowledging there is a small problem in the area, the number of so-called "tourist citizenships" being granted to babies in this country is minimal, and tackling it will do nothing to solve the overall problem, or perception of one, that many people feel there is at the moment.

As a people and nation, we also prided ourselves on our generosity and openness. We helped that perception recently by opening our labour market without restriction to citizens of the accession states. On reflection, and considering the general policy trends of this Government, that situation was probably motivated far more by economic and financial concerns and the wish to secure a supply of labour for business rather than any humanitarian issues. However, this Government at one stroke — in the real sense of a Fianna Fáil stroke — sends out the wrong message internationally. At the same time, it portrays itself as a tough, right-wing Government, using this referendum to fool our own citizens into believing that closing this small loophole will solve all our immigration problems. We must constantly remind people that this referendum has nothing to do with whole families. As has been said on numerous occasions in the House, the Supreme Court has dealt with that situation adequately. In essence, all this referendum will do is deprive a small number of babies and children, mostly from disadvantaged families and parts of the world, of the right to Irish citizenship if born in this country. In reality, most of those children will in any case not remain in Ireland, as their families have not been entitled to citizenship or residency since the Supreme Court decision. In addition, it will be open to future and, one hopes, more enlightened Governments to amend the law to allow flexibility and generosity in considering citizenship for those babies born in Ireland.

This Government is changing our understanding of what we are as a people, and how we think and behave as a nation, in much the same way as Margaret Thatcher did in Conservative England. It was she who changed British citizenship regulations at that time. This Thatcherite Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government is trying, unfortunately successfully, to turn Ireland into a similar, right-wing, privilege-based society. Their dictatorial approach to Government means that more laws and regulations, and now a referendum, will turn us into a people who live our lives wholly by rules, regulations and diktats from various members of this Government. That type of approach should not be acceptable in a country where people value their lifestyles and where a sense of humour, generosity, tolerance and flexibility were — and, one hopes, will again be — part and parcel of our identity as a nation and people.

Holding this referendum at this point sends out the wrong message for us as a nation. It achieves nothing except depriving a few hundred children of Irish citizenship. Perhaps some consider that an achievement, but in the overall scheme of things, this referendum will achieve very little. One must ask why it is happening now and where the urgency is. We are constantly being told by the Minister that this referendum is urgent, and that it must be dealt with inside the next seven weeks. It is difficult to understand that urgency, since the referendum will change nothing immediately in the context of immigration and asylum seekers. As the Minister said, they will not be able to use their entitlement to Irish citizenship until they are independently able to travel. We must therefore get the message across to the electorate that this referendum will make absolutely no difference to the numbers of immigrants or asylum seekers for at least 16 or 17 years.

The whole situation is a total and utter smokescreen. We have been waiting years for the Minister to introduce a transparent asylum and immigration policy that clearly addresses the many complex issues. Instead we get a politically motivated stopgap reaction from the Government. The Minister should tell the electorate that he is introducing an amendment to prevent 200 or 300 babies each year being entitled to Irish citizenship because they were born in this country. He should say why he is doing so even though, as the Minister said, the child can only use the right of citizenship when it can travel independently. This political ploy must be exposed. Even for those citizens who support the referendum, it should be very clearly explained that his measure will have absolutely no effect on the number of immigrants or general perceived immigrant problem in this country. By introducing this referendum, this Government is cynically using the fears of the electorate to try to deal with an issue in a referendum that is not being given the time and consideration it requires and that will have little or no effect on the overall immigration and asylum policies of this country. By rushing through with this referendum the Government is denying the opportunity to those who genuinely wish to be constructive and take part in this debate and seek an equitable solution to the real problems which exist. The Government is attempting to give the impression that by passing this referendum, we will solve all our asylum and immigration problems. The whole thing is a nonsense and an insult to the electorate.

I refer to recent newspaper articles about the proposed referendum. It is dealt with in a column written by Shane Coleman which is headed: "One thing is black and white: this poll is genius". He writes that to hold a referendum restricting the right of Irish citizenship is a political master stroke that carries virtually no downside for the Government and in political terms this is the only conclusion one can reach. On the same day in the same newspaper, there was a headline stating: "This referendum is not about facts, still less about the truth. It is about exploiting fears in order to gain votes". We were told that Ireland's liberal citizenship laws are unique yet there are 41 countries worldwide with similar provisions. England was one of them until Maggie Thatcher made the rules more restrictive. Thankfully the United States on that occasion did not follow. Many Irish citizens have benefited over the years from the US system. Despite its long borders with Mexico and Canada the United States still gives the right of citizenship to those children born in the United States.

In the run-up to the local elections, we should be discussing closed hospital wards, hospital waiting lists, cutbacks in home help and in facilities for the handicapped, and cutbacks in county council budgets. These are issues that are hurting each of our citizens every day. We should not be discussing a political distraction such as this referendum which will have no real effect on the issue it is supposed to address.

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