Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 35, to delete lines 22 to 45, to delete page 36 and in page 37, to delete lines 1 to 36 and substitute the following:

32.—The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 is amended—

(a) in section 2, by the insertion of the following definition:

"'civil partner' means a civil partner within the meaning of section 3 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010;",

(b) in section 15 (amended by section 8 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004)—

(i) by the substitution of the following for subsection (1)(e):

"(e) has, before a judge of the District Court in open court, in a citizenship ceremony or in such manner as the Minister, for special reasons, allows—

(i) made a declaration, in the prescribed manner, of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State, and

(ii) undertaken to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values.",

and

(ii) by the insertion of the following after subsection (3) (inserted by section 8 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004):

"(4) In this section and section 15A, 'citizenship ceremony' means a ceremony, held before a judge, or a retired judge, of the District Court, Circuit Court, High Court or Supreme Court, or such other person as may be designated for that purpose by the Minister, at a place and in a form approved by the Minister, at which the applicant has made the declaration and undertaking referred to in subsection (1)(e) or section 15A(1)(h)",

(c) by the substitution of the following section for section 15A (amended by section 9 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004):

"15A.—(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 15, the Minister may, in his or her absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation to the non-national spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen if satisfied that the applicant—

(a) is of full age,

(b) is of good character,

(c) and that citizen—

(i) are married to each other, have been married to each other for a period of not less than 3 years, and are living together, as attested to by affidavit submitted by the citizen to the Minister in the prescribed form, or

(ii) are civil partners of each other, have been civil partners of each other for a period of not less than 3 years, and are living together, as attested to by affidavit submitted by the citizen to the Minister in the prescribed form,

(d) is, in the case of a spouse, in a marriage recognised under the laws of the State as subsisting,

(e) had, immediately before the date of the application, a period of one year's continuous residence in the island of Ireland,

(f) had, during the 4 years immediately preceding that period, a total residence in the island of Ireland amounting to 2 years,

(g) intends in good faith to continue to reside in the island of Ireland after naturalisation, and

(h) has, before a judge of the District Court in open court, in a citizenship ceremony or in such manner as the Minister, for special reasons, allows—

(i) made a declaration, in the prescribed manner, of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State, and

(ii) undertaken to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values.

(2) The Minister may, in his or her absolute discretion, waive the conditions at paragraph (c), (e), (f) or (g) of subsection (1) or any of them if satisfied that the applicant would suffer serious consequences in respect of his or her bodily integrity or liberty if not granted Irish citizenship.

(3) Paragraph (g) of subsection (1) shall not apply to an applicant for a certificate of naturalisation to whom subsection (4) applies.

(4) Any period of residence outside the Island of Ireland, during which—

(a) the applicant for a certificate of naturalisation to which this section applies was—

(i) married to and living with his or her spouse, or

(ii) in a civil partnership with and living with his or her civil partner,

and

(b) the applicant's spouse or, as the case may be, civil partner was in the public service,

shall be reckoned as a period of residence in the island of Ireland for the purposes of calculating—

(i) continuous residence under paragraph (e) of subsection (1), or

(ii) total residence under paragraph (f) of that subsection.",

(d) in section 16 (amended by section 10 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004)—

(i) by the insertion in subsection (2)(a) of ", or is the civil partner of," after "related by blood, affinity or adoption to", and

(ii) by the insertion in subsection (2)(b) of ", or was the civil partner of," after "related by blood, affinity or adoption to",

(e) by the substitution of the following section for section 17 (amended by section 12 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004):

"17.—An application for a certificate of naturalisation shall be—

(a) in the prescribed form, and

(b) accompanied by—

(i) such fee (if any) as may be prescribed, and

(ii) such evidence (including statutory declarations) to vouch the application as the Minister may require.",

(f) in section 19(1)(e), by the substitution for "act other than marriage" of "act, other than marriage or entry into a civil partnership,",

(g) by the substitution of the following section for section 20:

20.—Acquisition of Irish citizenship by a person shall not of itself confer Irish citizenship on his or her spouse or civil partner.",

(h) by the substitution of the following section for section 22:

22.—(1) The death of an Irish citizen shall not affect the citizenship of his or her surviving spouse, civil partner or children.

(2) Loss of Irish citizenship by a person shall not of itself affect the citizenship of his or her spouse, civil partner or children.",

and

(i) by the substitution of the following section for section 23 (amended by section 8 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2001):

23.—A person who marries, or enters into a civil partnership with, a non-national shall not, merely by virtue of the marriage or civil partnership, cease to be an Irish citizen, whether or not he or she acquires the nationality of the non-national.".".

This deals with the issue of citizenship, which we have discussed at some length during the course of this Bill's passage through the Houses. The purpose of the amendment is to make the necessary amendments to the Irish nationality and citizenship Acts to give effect to the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. Deputies will recall that I stated my intention to bring forward, as far as possible in the Bill, amendments to achieve that end. During the various Stages we have agreed certain changes to a number of sections in the relevant citizenship Acts, and much of the text of section 32 was agreed during Committee Stage debates.

For example, we provided statutory backing for citizenship ceremonies and improved recognition of the position of civil partners, thus making it easier for them to acquire citizenship. My amendment proposes the replacement of section 32 in its entirety so as to provide clarity on the legal position without having to visit a series of different enactments. I should explain that this is essentially a technical drafting device recommended by the Parliamentary Counsel to assist Deputies in better understanding what is being proposed, both in its entirety and in additional new elements It will also assist the public and those who may give advice to individuals.

I propose to highlight those new elements regarding civil partners and citizenship ceremonies now being included on Report Stage, some of which were mentioned by me during the course of Second or Committee Stages. Paragraph (a) inserts a new definition of "civil partner" in section 2 of the 1956 Act. That is clearly necessary because of the changes we are making. Paragraph (b) provides for an amended description of a "citizenship ceremony" to allow such a ceremony to be held before "such other person as may be designated for that purpose by the Minister", in addition to a judge or a retired judge. Such a person could be a county registrar, for example. Deputies will recall that when provision was originally made for citizenship ceremonies, it was stated that the swearing of the oath should take place before a judge or retired judge. As an individual of that nature might not be always available in circumstances in which a ceremony should take place, I have decided it is appropriate for the Minister of the day to be able to designate some other appropriate individual to administer the oath. This amendment will allow that to happen.

Further to what I mentioned earlier, I would like to inform the House that a series of citizenship ceremonies will take place in Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines on Thursday and Friday of next week. A large number of people to whom citizenship has been granted will swear oaths and receive citizenship parchments or certificates. We hope to arrange a further citizenship ceremony outside Dublin in August, perhaps in Templemore. I am not sure if a retired or sitting judge will be available in August to administer the oath.

See this speech in context