Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The law on citizenship is as follows: the Irish State can, when the Executive advises the President, confer citizenship as a token of honour on somebody who has done signal service to the Irish nation, under section 12 of the 1956 Act. That is full citizenship, not honorary in the sense of being an honorary member of a golf club or whatever, but conferred as a matter of honour on the person.

This section gives meaning to the term "Irish associations", which now means a blood affinity or adoptive relationship with a person who either is an Irish citizen or, if deceased, would be if he or she were alive. For example, to be a relative by affinity, which is marriage, of Charles Stuart Parnell could constitute an Irish association under this rubric even though he died before the foundation of the State.

It will not be permissible, however, for someone who has absolutely no connection with Ireland to get citizenship based solely on the fact that he or she has made an investment in Ireland, without coming here and satisfying some of the other criteria set out in the 1956 Act. I do not want to mislead anybody. It is the case that somebody who was the great-grandchild of an Irish citizen or of a person who would have been an Irish citizen were they alive could make an investment in Ireland and could be granted citizenship in those circumstances. However, the controlling criteria would not be whether an investment were made but, on the contrary, whether the person had Irish associations in the first place. It will not be possible for the Mahfouz family or Mr. Kozeny or others whose citizenship caused some controversy of one kind or another to be granted citizenship on the basis of Irish associations where the association derives entirely from an investment, loan or debenture capital transaction of some kind in Ireland.

Those in that category who have no connection with Ireland will have to be dealt with under the criteria laid down in section 15 or, alternatively, if they have done some great service to Ireland, the President can make them citizens on the advice of the Government. However, if they have no connection whatsoever to Ireland, they will be excluded from being made Irish citizens by virtue of some economic transaction with an enterprise or the Government.