Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

The Minister noted the Parliamentary Counsel anticipated this issue, and that it is dealt with in the draft legislation, so that the citizenship right is extended to people whose parents are not alive at the time of the child's birth. That means that people in such a situation do not have a constitutional right, and the right has to be provided by legislation.

Second, the fact that the Minister has to legislate in this way and anticipate matters in this way means the wording in the constitutional amendment was flawed. The Minister has had to address that flaw through legislation. The most important point is that people in the position referred to do not have the constitutional right of citizenship. It is unbelievable that this would be the intent of the legislation.