Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That was the context. We move forward now. The tide has changed. The proposed legislation respects the 2004 referendum and its spirit. As everyone in the House has acknowledged, it includes the right to provide for a route to citizenship and that is still open to us. It also reflects some understanding of the children's rights referendum which we have had since then. The principle of the children's rights referendum was that each child has rights inherent in themselves. The debate on the 2004 referendum was focused on the immigration status of a parent. The children's rights referendum we had since shows that the people of Ireland believe children have inherent rights and should be able to access them. It would be compliant with the 2004 referendum and in the spirit of the children's rights referendum if the Minister of State were to accept this Bill. Others have spoken about a few key issues, including the 2015 UN recommendations on the rights of the child. I point to Ireland's conventions on statelessness. Ireland has signed up to a number of conventions on statelessness and we consistently put the children who are born here, who are Irish but not citizens, in danger of being children of no state.