Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Senator Tuffy's concern regarding this section appears to be to ensure that the High Court is satisfied, having regard to all the circumstances, that it would be appropriate for it to make an order under section 9(1). In other words, she is concerned about the provision in subsection (2) that the High Court shall not make an order under subsection (1) unless a number of conditions, including that the Minister has given his or her consent and the person is an Irish citizen, have been met. She proposes inserting an additional requirement providing that the High Court must be satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances, it would be appropriate to make the order. This wording appears to be surplusage because, by definition, if one meets all the conditions, the High Court is satisfied in all the circumstances that it would be appropriate to make the order. The amendment would introduce a vague criterion on the making of such orders.

In general the matters arising in any application will arise in the normal course. Therefore, to make specific provision may interfere with the court's discretion and cause difficulty in circumstances not now foreseen. The High Court will always have regard to constitutional principles such as due process and fair procedures. The better course would be to leave these matters to the discretion of the court.