Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

No. I accused him of using crime figures in the wrong context. If he refers back to the record, he will see that I did not say he had hyped them up. The reason was that the Pulse system had only just come into effect and it was skewed because it had no prior figures against which it could make a proper comparison.

The people can see through this pre-election ploy and will not fall for it. The Minister and the Government are hoping to appeal to fear, prejudice and a narrow concept of self interest. They under estimate the Irish people, however, the vast majority of whom want to see Ireland mature into an equitable and multi-cultural society, and who also want to challenge racism. I believe the people will reject the Minister's attempts to divide and conquer, and will demonstrate that they want a future united Ireland that is inclusive and strong in its diversity. If this referendum is forced on the people, they will confirm once again that they share Sinn Féin's vision of an Ireland of equals.

My party considers children born here to be Irish, not non-national. Sinn Féin claims these children to be part of the Irish nation and wants to ensure they are cherished equally, as the 1916 Proclamation hoped for. The Minister is wrong when he says that the inclusion of such people in the citizenry was an unforeseen result of the Good Friday Agreement. It is, in fact, an extension of the inclusive republican logic first outlined in the 1916 Proclamation.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has pointed out that the Government's proposal does not close any alleged loophole created by the Good Friday Agreement. Anyone born here since 1921 has been entitled to Irish citizenship by virtue of birth. This has been the law in Ireland for 83 years. If we choose to reverse the basis of citizenship from jus solis, or right by birth, to jus sanguinis, we will not only be contradicting the constitutional principle of equality, but will also be abandoning a commonality with over 40 countries with whom we share a common republican and legal heritage.

Large western democracies such as the United States and Canada, as well as India and New Zealand, and almost the whole of South and Central America, and the Caribbean, provide directly for citizenship by birth in their constitutions. I do not accept that there is any legitimate imperative for us to change our citizenship law to bring it into line with EU standards. In the five referenda that have been held in this State on EU membership, constitutional provision for Irish citizenship was never raised as an issue. I therefore conclude only that there is either no connection between EU membership and Irish citizenship or that the Government has come under pressure from the British Government or other EU member states to change our Constitution. If this is the case, the proposal will be even less acceptable to the people.

A constitution and the rights it confers should not be reversed at breakneck speed, for electoral expedience or otherwise. What is happening today would not be acceptable in other constitutional democracies. Neither can I accept the idea of vesting the Government of the day with the ultimate power to define citizenship such that the citizen would have no protections in the Constitution, and such that there would no longer be the requirement of a popular mandate by referendum. This effectively holds the nation hostage to the whims of a particular Administration. This is precisely why we should not discuss any such proposal without the benefit of the informed opinion of the Human Rights Commission, as agreed in the Good Friday Agreement. This commission should be consulted on matters that would affect human rights in Ireland but this was not done before the Minister produced this Bill. Moreover, there was no attempt to consult all the parties in Ireland. The SDLP has made a complaint about this and other Six-County-based parties may also have done so.

The consultation we supposedly had amounted to the Minister informing us of what he intended to do, regardless of whether we approved. That is not consultation. There was no proper mechanism by which we could discuss the matter and try change his opinion before he called the second meeting in which he stated he had just published the Bill, which I believe he had given to the media before consulting us.

Sinn Féin is opposing this proposal because it is irresponsible. Instead, we want comprehensive immigration law reform to establish a positive, compassionate, human-rights-compliant and anti-racist immigration law that will pave the way for Ireland's transition to a truly multicultural, equitable society. I urge the Government to distance itself from the agenda of the Minister, Deputy McDowell. If it does so, it will earn the respect of the people and open the possibility of having proper social consensus on immigration law reform.

Tá sé tubaisteach ag an bpointe seo de stair an Stáit seo go bhfuil an reifreann seo ag teacht chun cinn. In áit féachaint chun tosaigh agus déanamh cinnte de go bhfuil sochaí chuí agus chothrom sa Stát seo, is a mhalairt atá ag tarlú. Táimid ag dul siar ar na cearta daonna atá tugtha agus faighte againn thar na blianta sa Stát seo, agus táimid á gcur ar leataobh. Is iarracht eile é seo ón Aire ár gcearta, agus cearta phobal agus pháistí na hÉireann sa todhchaí, a dhiúltú. Sa deireadh thiar thall, cuideoidh sé seo le coimhlint chiníoch a chothú sa Stát seo.

Tá sé truamhéalach go bhfuil Aire a bhfuil dualgas air comhionannas agus cothromas a chur chun cinn sa Stát seo ag brú a leithéid de reifreann chun cinn. Níor chóir go mbeadh an reifreann agus an Bille seo os ár gcomhair, agus impím ar an Aire, fiú ag an am seo, é a tharraingt siar. Ba cheart déileáil le ceist na hinimirce i gceart, agus, más gá amach anseo, teacht ar ais má tá fadhbanna ann ó thaobh chúrsaí sláinte nó tithíochta de. Is féidir déileáil leis na fadhbanna sin ar fad má tá siad ann, agus ní aontaím go hiomlán go bhfuil siad ann mar gheall ar inimirce; tá siad ann mar gheall ar an Rialtas. Más gá dúinn déileáil leo, is féidir linn é sin a dhéanamh ó thaobh reachtaíochta de.

Ní gá dúinn cur as don Bhunreacht, atá ann anois le 83 blíana — níl sé ann go hiomlán chomh fada sin, mar tá athruithe tagtha air — ach ba chóir déileáil leis an cheist ó thaobh polasaí agus reachtaíochta de, ní trí athruithe bunúsacha a dhéanamh ar an Bhunreacht gan taighde nó díospóireacht cheart agus gan féachaint chuige an bhfuil aon bhealach eile in aon chor ar féidir linn déileáil leis seo. Níor choir go mbeimis ag oscailt suas an Bhunreachta ariamh ach amháin sa ghné dheireanach de phróiseas reachtaíochta nó Rialtais. Nílimid tar éis teacht go dtí an pointe sin sa díospóireacht ar an cheist seo go dtí seo.

Má ghlacaimid leis an Bhille seo, táimid ag cothú dhá leibhéal de náisiún sa tír seo. Tá náisiún mór againn atá i bhfad Éireann níos mó ná na daoine sa Stát seo. Tá sé timpeall an domhain ar fad, agus tá a lán daoine ann ar mhaith leo bheith ina saoránaigh Éireannacha. Deir beagnach 60 milliún duine sna Stáit Aontaithe go bhfuil an ceart acu ar stádas Éireannach agus gur mhaith leo amach anseo, b'fhéidir, an tsaoránacht sin a ghlacadh dóibh féin nó dá gclann. Má tharlaíonn a leithéid de rud, ní bheidh an deis sin acu. Ní bheidh an deis cheart acu ról ceart nó cuí a imirt i náisiún na hÉireann amach anseo.

Impím ar an Aire an Bille seo a tharraingt siar agus gan dul ar aghaidh leis, agus díriú isteach ar an obair cheart chun polasaí ceart a bheith aige d'inimircigh, obair, agus chearta oibre sa tír seo.

See this speech in context