David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----in Ireland and on the broader UK jurisdiction. If the proposed amendment was permitted by the House, and had the direct consequence of attracting more people to the State to seek to achieve residency status through the birth of a child here, the consequential strain on State services, including existing immigration provision, housing, education, medical services and welfare, would need to be carefully assessed. There are many rights in the protection process for people who come here to look for asylum. This Bill primarily impacts on those here illegally, giving them superior rights within three years if they seek protection. It also gives rights to illegal UK immigrants in Northern Ireland who were never in this country. I wish to flag that it is not intended to bring forward a money message in this regard because of the costs that would accrue.

Our ability to offer solidarity, which is frequently urged on Government by Members from all sides of this House, to other member states in dealing with emergency humanitarian crises and to third countries hosting large refugee populations, could be reduced, if not severely curtailed, due to the unquantifiable increased demands on State services as a result of this Bill being brought into law. The refugee protection programme will welcome 4,000 people to Ireland, people who are fleeing conflict and a real and serious risk to their lives. Anyone qualifying for refugee status under that scheme will be eligible for citizenship in due course.

Our steps to regulate our immigration procedures during volatile times have served the country well. Our exercising of rights under our immigration processes has ensured that thousands of children have been granted citizenship and that will continue to be the case for all who respect the fair and accessible pathways provided by Government to enter and live in this State. The Minister exercises his discretion to protect not just the State but women, children and their families. This House should be proud that we continue to prioritise the direction of available resources towards vulnerable people in the greatest need as they flee conflict throughout the world.

In summary, the proposed Bill has profound implications in a wide number of areas, including Northern Ireland, the UK, the EU and national immigration laws and services. In effect, it breaks the bond that currently exists between the residency status of parents and the granting of citizenship to the child of non-Irish parents and changes that to a situation where the child is automatically granted citizenship after a stated period. This is without any reference to the immigration status or legal presence in the State of the parents. If the Bill is enacted, Ireland would be out of step with the entirety of the EU. This would create a major attraction for non-EEA nationals in other EU member states, particularly those there illegally or with non-reckonable residency, to come here to have their child. Such persons could, in turn, return to the original EU member state as soon as the child had been granted citizenship, and their parents a residency permission, thus circumventing the immigration laws of these EU member states.