Michael Smith (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to contribute to this important debate. As a country, Ireland has a tremendous sense of what migration is about. It is to an extent embedded in our folk memory as generations of our people saw it necessary to leave our shores in search of a better life. For at least a century and a half the Irish were an emigrant people. In more recent times this migration reached a peak in the 1950s and again took an upward direction as recently as two decades ago.

This House knows well the success we have enjoyed in terms of economic and social development over the last decade in particular. Strong political leadership, underpinned by the cohesiveness of social partnership, has built an Ireland which offers more opportunity than ever before. This opportunity is clearly attractive to people beyond our shores and has made Ireland a very desirable place of migration. We have come full circle from where we were as recently as the 1980s and are now experiencing the ever-increasing forces of migration in a completely new way.

Our society has been enriched greatly in recent years through migration. New cultures, languages and lifestyles have begun to integrate themselves into a country which for so long was characterised by relative homogeneity. Most right-thinking people would recognise that the flow of people into our country in recent years has brought much that is good. Likewise it must be recognised that it has brought many challenges.

Fundamental to these challenges is a need to address the nature of citizenship in a modern Ireland. Currently Irish citizenship is bestowed on anyone born on the island of Ireland, a provision set out in the ground-breaking Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and endorsed by the people on both sides of the Border. It has now become clear that this constitutional provision on citizenship is being used in a way not intended by the people when they voted on the Agreement. A loophole is being exploited that sets us apart from other EU countries and it is the Government's belief that the approval of the people must now be sought to close it.

Citizenship should be much more than a matter of geographical fact. It is about loyalty to the State and fidelity to the nation. Current trends in our society have made it more necessary than ever to challenge assumptions that everyone born in Ireland should be entitled to Irish citizenship solely on that basis and without further connection to Irish society or the State.

The Government has deemed it necessary to seek the approval of the people to effect the necessary legislative changes to redefine Irish citizenship. It is doing this not out of any desire to imply that citizenship is linked to some sort of cultural uniformity and narrow sense of what it means to be Irish. On the contrary, what is intended will copperfasten and give a new sense of recognition to the place of our established immigrant community.

By setting a very reasonable three-year period of residency for one or more non-national parents before citizenship rights are granted to a child, Ireland will compare more than favourably with the time periods for the acquisition of citizenship in all other jurisdictions.

Regrettably, many elements of this debate, including contributions from the opposite side of the House, have followed a firm but misguided argument that the Government is in some way playing the racist card. It is frankly a contemptible suggestion that the Government would try to exploit the insidious evil of racism for political gain and one of the most offensive political slurs I have encountered over long years of service in this House.

The Government will not be intimidated by those who by their own irresponsible words are playing the racist card themselves. Surely it is not unreasonable for us to bring our Constitution and legislative framework into line with our neighbours? Should we not address unintended incentives that are unfair to us and other EU states provided this is done in a fair and balanced way?

The Government's proposal will give us one of the most generous systems of nationality and citizenship in the EU and has been specifically designed to be acceptable to Irish citizens and our immigrant community alike. Are those who are most vigorous in their opposition to our proposals seriously suggesting that the citizenship laws of our EU neighbours are mired in racism?

There has been some disquiet in recent days that the proposals being brought forward by the Government will undermine fundamental elements of the Good Friday Agreement. I remind the House that it was this Government, under the relentless personal commitment of the Taoiseach, that was one of the main architects of the Agreement. Its full implementation remains a top priority and it is unthinkable that we would do anything to undermine it.

The Government is entirely satisfied that our proposals are fully compatible with what was agreed in 1998 and does not contradict the Good Friday Agreement. Members should be reassured of this by the joint declaration issued in recent days by the two Governments that the proposed citizenship referendum is fully in keeping with the Agreement.

Many of those seeking to drag the context of these proposals down to a debate on racism are arguing that the timing of the referendum is calculated to exploit maximum political advantage. I utterly reject this. It makes eminent sense to hold this important and reasonable referendum in tandem with the local and European elections as voting on a range of issues will increase the likelihood of higher and more broadly based voter turn-out. By running the referendum alongside the two elections, the type of intensity that might arise in a single issue campaign and could be exploited for malicious intent will be greatly reduced.

It is misguided to assert that people will vote for candidates on the basis of their views on the referendum alone. Holding the referendum on the same day as the elections does not transform what is a reasonable proposal into a racist one. The vast majority of Irish people will not look favourably on any candidate who would seek to stoke a racist agenda. Unlike many in the Opposition, perhaps I have more faith in the maturity and discernment of the electorate.

The proposals this House is debating and the wording to be put before the people on 11 June are a reasoned and fair attempt to address an anomaly in our citizenship laws. Our society is changing profoundly as new cultures and creeds find their place here. What we are trying to do has been designed to be acceptable to Irish citizens and our immigrant community alike and brings us into line with our EU partners.

I ask those who are opposing our proposals to ask themselves if by their actions and language they are playing into the hands of the racists they would purport to abhor.

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