Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I am grateful to Senator Mansergh. I appreciate the comments he made, which encapsulate in a concise manner much of what I intended to say. I agree with him that most people's concerns about this proposal do not relate to its concept, but to its timing. Although Opposition Members have every right to express their views, I am somewhat disappointed that the word "racism" has been used. I am afraid that it is not a new phenomenon, however.

I raised the question of citizenship in this House six months before the 2002 general election. It is somewhat ironic that my colleague, Senator Ryan, called for a debate on citizenship in the House this morning, as I called for such a debate over two years ago in the context of the arrival of large numbers of people to this country. Some friends of mine who work in the obstetrics departments of major Dublin hospitals have told me that it is obvious that people deliberately choose to arrive in the days before they are due to give birth. Their exclusive reason for arriving at such a late stage is to avail of the liberal nature of the laws introduced after the Good Friday Agreement. There were noble aspirations at the time, but we took our eye off the ball in that legislation, despite the expert advice available to us. We did not take account of the possibility of what eventually became a reality. There should be no question of racism. I was accused of being racist by the Leader of the Opposition at that time because I raised a simple issue and asked for a debate on the concept of citizenship. The man in question later retracted his accusation.