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

If that is okay, I will speak as quickly as I can.

I acknowledge the work done by Senator Bacik and her Labour Party colleagues and thank them for it. Since we last discussed this Bill, I have had a good engagement with the Senator on a number of citizenship issues. I thank her for that ongoing engagement. During our previous debate on Committee Stage in December, I committed to reviewing the Bill. Further to that, I brought a memo to the Government at a Cabinet meeting earlier this week setting forth plans to amend some parts of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act as part of the courts and civil law (miscellaneous provisions) Bill, which we hope to progress and implement later this year. The general scheme of that Bill will include a number of amendments relevant to citizenship and immigration matters, but before I speak to those and to section 2 of this Bill, I will update the Seanad on a key development in this area.

I understand that the Labour Party's intention in introducing this Bill was to provide a solution, as well as certainty and clarity, for undocumented children in the State. I am happy to inform the House that the programme for Government commitment to introduce a regularisation scheme of the long-term undocumented is well under way.It has progressed since we last met in December. This scheme will be broad and I think it will be generous. It will provide a pathway to citizenship through legal reckonable residence for many adults and children in the State. It is still intended, as I set out, that this scheme will be introduced and launched in the third quarter of this year with a view to accepting applications before the end of the year in line with the commitment in the programme for Government that it will be done within the first 18 months. Thereby, it will provide us with regularisation and give permission to remain legally in Ireland to a significant number of individuals. Without fully knowing the number, it appears potentially more than 3,000 children will benefit from that and a significant number more of their parents and adults.

I wish to reiterate that Ireland is a diverse, open country and it welcomes many new citizens each year. Since 2010 just under 29,000 children, including 25,000 children of non-EU nationals, have become citizens in Ireland through naturalisation. This reflects existing citizenship requirements, which are very straightforward in comparison with other European jurisdictions and require no civic or financial requirements but legal reckonable residence in the State for five years in total. I outlined earlier in a Commencement matter how we have introduced a new system to deal with the fact we cannot have in-person citizenship ceremonies. We hope to address that and to reach in excess of 6,000 people between now and the end of June.That will deal with much of the backlog that currently exists.

One of the amendments I intend to introduce through Government legislation will reflect in part section 2(1) of the Private Member's Bill as discussed and as the Senator has outlined. This will reduce, from five to three, the number of years' residence required for children born in the State to become eligible for citizenship by naturalisation. This proposal will allow children who are currently on a pathway to citizenship to attain this status at an earlier stage. It offers greater security of status to a child who can acquire Irish, and thereby EU, citizenship more easily than is currently the case. With this proposed Government-led amendment, Ireland will be one of the most generous in the EU in terms of the years of residence required for foreign national children born here to gain citizenship by naturalisation. I look forward to further debate on this amendment as the Government Bill moves through the Houses in the Oireachtas.

I also understand that while giving effect in part to section 2(1) of the Private Member's Bill in a Government Bill, it is an important collaborative effort. As Minister for Justice, I understand that to reduce the number of persons who become undocumented in this State, improvements need to be made on a wider basis in the immigration process, in particular in the area of international protection. The recommendations of the Catherine Day report, which was published by our colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, focuses in particular on progressing significant improvements in processing procedures and in timelines for decisions to ensure the system is adequately resourced and that backlogs are addressed. A White Paper setting out the proposed approach to transitioning from direct provision accommodation, for improved living arrangements and support for those who are in there or who would generally end up and that system was published on 26 of February. I look forward to further engagement with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in particular, as well as other Ministers as we progress these matters. We have already received funding for 2021 to improve our investment in ICT to try and improve and speed up those systems.

I again give that commitment that I am progressing the proposed courts and civil law (miscellaneous) Bill which captures some of the aims of this Private Member's Bill, in particular section 2(1), in supporting children born in the State. Section 2(2) of the Private Member's Bill, removes requirement for an application to be made by a parent or guardian or a person who is in loco parentisto a child. I have agreed, working with Senator Bacik, to engage further with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, to whom I have spoken about this already, to explore providing Tusla with a legal power to apply for citizenship on behalf of a child in the State. There is still some further work that needs to be done before we can get that commitment, but a sense of belonging and identity is crucial for children, and it is my intention that all unnecessary barriers can be removed. This is potentially another barrier that we can remove.

It is also important to stress that in some cases the acquisition of Irish citizenship may not be in the interest of a child, particularly if there was a potential loss of certain rights or privileges of the child's country of origin. Naturally this is a complex space and that is why we want to take that little bit more time to engage further with Tusla and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

Again, I restate my gratitude to Senator Bacik to the Labour Party and recognise the contributions of the late Labour Youth chair, Cormac Ó Braonáin. His passion for public service is an example to all young people in Ireland and one we want to ensure we can fulfil so that we can live up to the huge commitment he made in his life. I acknowledge that and thank the Senator.