Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming along today. In regard to the first group of amendments, this is an oppressive and wholly inappropriate instrument. It does not just give rise to the risk of creating two categories of Irish citizenship, it de facto creates a two-tier Irish citizenship, and in doing so devalues the whole concept and value of Irish citizenship in the first place.

I share the concerns set out by Senator Ruane and those communicated to all of us in this House by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The concerns are specifically focused around the proposed procedure for revocation, particularly the appeals procedure and the idea of there being an ad hoc committee deciding on a case-by-case basis whether a person's citizenship should be revoked. There is also the question of matters relating to national security.

By way of declaration, I wrote an expert report for the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of the prosecution of Ali Damache prior to the decision to revoke his citizenship, so I have a keen understanding of both security concerns and national security concerns. In 2005, I went to Guantanamo Bay. I attended the commission's procedures on Guantanamo Bay where prisoners, euphemistically referred to as detainees, were brought before kangaroo courts. They had the appearance of courts. There was a stenographer and a man who was dressed up as a judge, a US Army colonel, who, I discovered on inquiring, had no legal qualifications whatsoever. They put to the detainees that they had sensitive security information about them, which was actually provided by other members of Islamist extremist groups, like al-Qaeda and so forth, and those prisoners were denied any access or knowledge of the sensitive security information that had been presented as part of the case against them.The US military and judge advocate general would say that commission's process in Guantanamo Bay brought the United States and its procedures - the separation of the powers of state - into international disrepute and what is set out here and what is proposed by way of the procedures in revocation of citizenship of naturalised citizens and the appeal procedures is a cut and paste or a photocopy of those procedures. It is completely and totally-----