Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Bacik for the approach that she has taken and the fact that we are having a general discussion about this today. As she has rightly pointed out, we will meet within the next two weeks to look at the issues that have been identified here, the problems we have and how we can move them forward whether through legislation or other means. I look forward to working with the Senator and others in that regard.

A country's citizenship laws are critical to the integrity of the State and the rights of the people. Therefore, it is very appropriate that we debate these issues in this House. I appreciate the intention of the Bill. As I have said, I want to work with Senator Bacik and others in trying to progress the concerns that have been outlined.

I welcome the opportunity to flag some of the developments that have taken place since the Bill was first presented to the House as I believe it will help in addressing some of the challenges that already have been outlined and are faced by many families and their children who have come to Ireland seeking international protection or, indeed, who may in fact have no valid immigration permission. I understand and appreciate that the Bill before the House specifically and intentionally focuses on children and that the aim is to protect children who are already integrated into Irish society who face the risk of being removed. Obviously we have all heard of different cases. We have seen very publicly where one has young people who have grown up here but who as a result, perhaps of their parents' illegal status, find themselves in a very difficult situation. It is very difficult for all of us to see a situation where one has a child who enters into education, goes through primary school, secondary school and even some getting as far as college, to suddenly find their very presence here in Ireland in doubt when they have been born here, grown up here, lived here and built their life here. This is what we are all trying to address and I fully support Senator Bacik in that objective here.

Ireland is an open democratic State that already provides many legal pathways for non-EU or non-EEA citizens to migrate here and contribute fully to Irish life. Ireland greatly benefits from this migration, whether it is economically, socially or culturally. In this regard, our citizenship laws are some of the most liberal in the European Union. Senator Bacik has outlined some of the others where there are more lengthy periods of time. I think it is Belgium where one has to wait for ten years. Our citizenship laws contain few obstacles overall in terms of citizenship for persons to lawfully reside in the State who meet the transparent legislative qualification criteria. We recognise the value of legal migration pathways, as do other EU member states, particularly more recently in working to deal with Covid-19 and seeing how important it is in that regard.

If I may, I wish to highlight some of what has happened and positive developments since the Bill was debated in the House in 2018. We have already taken action to address a certain cohort of the undocumented population in the State. In October 2018, a scheme was introduced to regularise non-EEA nationals who came into the State lawfully under a student permission and who maintained a lawful presence for at least two years. All successful applicants under the scheme were given a residence permission allowing unfettered access to the labour market. As of September 2020, the immigration service delivery function of my Department has made a decision on 3,106 of those cases, of which 2,253 have been granted and just 853 of those have been refused.

I was delighted also to bring with my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman,the report of the advisory group on the provision of support, including accommodation, to persons in the international protection process to the Government in October. Having received the report from Dr. Catherine Day, the report obviously outlines a new and more permanent system to replace direct provision and proposals for transition from the current system to the new system. The White Paper is currently being worked on and will be published by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, shortly. This will set out a new approach, we hope, to implementation, involving actions by multiple Departments, including my own Department.We are working very closely with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, with the Taoiseach's Department and others to ensure that this can be presented, and the White Paper presented, by the end of the year. That work has already started but will continue on a number of key recommendations in that report.

It is important for me to say that I am currently considering an approach to regularise the position of undocumented migrants and their dependants in line with the programme for Government's commitment. This would allow for long-term undocumented persons to apply for an immigration permission from my Department. I understand from speaking to the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland that this could be relevant for about 17,000 people, which could also include up to 3,000 young people or children. I have a report that has just come into my office this week from my own Department. Based on that report's recommendations, having engaged in extensive consultation with a lot of the organisations, representative groups and individuals, we will then set the process in train to set out a pathway and framework for the undocumented. The commitment is very clear in the programme for Government that that will be done by the end of the year and I very much intend to stick to that. It will, hopefully, support up to 17,000 people of which 3,000 are children.

There is a lot of merit in our current arrangements to make determinations on a case-by-case basis, as has been mentioned by Senator Bacik. It is open to the parent, guardian or person inloco parentisto the child to lodge an application for naturalisation on behalf of the child. The conditions for the naturalisation require a total of five years residence in the State, as provided in the Act. I know that the legislation before the House proposes to reduce the time. Inevitably, granting a residence permission to children, to young people who reside in Ireland without residency permission, will require that other family members must also be allowed to remain here in order to care for them, to support those children, in line with the broader rights to family life enshrined in domestic, international and EU law, and they would be entitled to apply for citizenship in due course.

As Minister for Justice, I have discretion to deal with each immigration case before me on its merits. There are statutory mechanisms in place to allow and make sure that every party can make representations in support of their claim and, of course, in support of their children. This is a discretion that has been frequently exercised in favour of the child, particularly where the family has claims on substantial and humanitarian grounds to remain in this country. My ministerial predecessors have frequently exercised this discretion in favour and support of the child in that instance.

In many cases involving children born in Ireland, leave to remain is granted. In terms of citizenship grants since 2010, approximately 28,781 were children. This includes 25,552 children of non-EEA nationals. They have become citizens of Ireland through naturalisation. This demonstrates in real terms the results of effective compliance with our present legal pathways to citizenship. The existing arrangements are fair and work for all of those who respect the laws and comply with them.

I wish to outline some of my concerns, and those of the Department and others, with elements of the Bill. If the Bill was enacted as it is proposed then it would create a situation in Ireland that would make us unique in the European Union, which Senator Bacik has touched on. Ireland would be the only state that granted citizenship to any child born on the island of Ireland, regardless of the legality of their parents' residence. We do have a duty to consider the consequences arising from the Bill if it were to be enacted in its current format, including the fact that from an EU point of view we would, in effect, be granting not just Irish citizenship but EU citizenship to children as well, and not just to children but inevitably to a much wider circle of people, as I have already mentioned.

Existing citizenship laws have also been carefully calibrated taking into account the complexities and very complex nature of the position in Northern Ireland and, more generally, keeping in line or broadly in line with other EU member states. The Bill if enacted, as proposed, would change the rules significantly for Irish citizenship entitlement in Northern Ireland as well. Currently, one parent must be an Irish citizen or be entitled to claim the same for the child to qualify for Irish citizenship, or one parent must have been lawfully resident on the island of Ireland for three out of the last four years. Of course with Brexit coming down the line, as the UK leaves the EU in the coming weeks, a range of amendments to current domestic legislation and administrative arrangements are under way to try and address the implications of this development in itself. This includes providing for residents of specified non-EEA national family members of UK citizens who move to Ireland post-Brexit by facilitating their entry and residence in the State. There will, obviously and undoubtedly, be children who will also benefit from these changes.

In the context of this proposed Bill, we do need to be conscious of the possible unintended consequences of changing our immigration laws at a time of huge flux. Covid-19 and Brexit are already likely to negatively impact on the economy and employment levels in Ireland. In addition to that, immigration rules have, potentially, wider implications for State services looking at immigration provision but also housing, education, medical services and welfare. All of these need to be carefully assessed and time needs to be given to look at those possible implications.

In summary, the proposed Bill is well intended and I support its objective. We all agree that many of the situations that we have discussed, and have been discussed previously when the Bill was introduced, should not be allowed happen where a child is born here, develops a life here, goes through school here and then finds himself or herself in a difficult situation. There are a lot of implications if we were to implement the Bill, as it currently stands, not least for our standing within the EU but the common travel area, Northern Ireland, our relationship with the UK but also other Departments and agencies as well. We have to take all of these into account.

I assure the Seanad that I will continue to exercise my ministerial discretion in cases involving the immigration status of children, particularly where humanitarian needs are presented to me and substantiated. I believe the positive developments that I have outlined, and the work that is under way, will have a positive impact on those we are trying to support today.

I want to work with Senator Bacik to address a lot of the issues that she has outlined, be it through legislation or other ways. I am fully committed to doing that and working with the House to address any of the lacunae in the law that currently exists. My apologies, I had a lot to say and I tried to condense it into the shortest period of time. I thank the Senator for her co-operation on this issue. I do want to work with her and look forward to working with her.