Expressing outrage at what he termed unnecessary provisions in the Bill altering citizenship law due to the constitutional changes linked to the peace process, Mr Brendan Ryan (Lab) claimed a cynical effort was being made to slide them through, hoping no one would notice.
Mr Feargal Quinn (Ind) said insufficient time was given to get the views of asylum-seekers, refugees and others who would be affected by it. Mr David Norris said he would be tabling amendments.
In a scathing attack on parts of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill, 1999, Mr Ryan said the right to Irish citizenship of the spouses of Irish citizens was being severely curtailed. An absolute discretion was being given to the Minister for Justice, who would not have to state why nuptial citizenship was being refused.
Introducing the Bill, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue, described it as a balanced and carefully considered piece of legislation. It ensured that our statute law now reflected the entitlement under the new Article 2 of the Constitution of all people born in the island to be part of the Irish nation.
Irish law would no longer make the overt declaration that everyone born in Ireland was an Irish citizen from birth, but was entitled to be an Irish citizen. This approach ensured respect for the position of those who did not want to exercise that entitlement.
Despite restrictions in the 1986 Act to reduce the scope for abuse of the post-nuptial citizenship declaration process, evidence of abuse continued to emerge.
Mr John Connor (FG) demanded to know why the Minister had failed to deal in the Bill with the passports for sale issue. He understood this issue had been merely put into abeyance. Was this being done, he wondered, so that the system could be brought back into effect surreptitiously at a future time.
There should be a statute to outlaw this kind of scheme in all circumstances. Press reports indicated there would be many more revelations in the so-called passports for sale scandal at the Moriarty tribunal.
Mr Norris said an unacceptable feature of the Bill was that the Minister could, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation to a non-national.
This was highly dangerous.
The Minister of State, Ms Mary Wallace, said Mr O'Donoghue expected to get the report of the review group on the investment-based naturalisation scheme soon and he intended to publish it. Although the scheme had been abolished, some cases in the pipeline were still being processed. The Bill passed the second stage.