Naturalisation and Citizenship: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Aubrey McCarthy (IND), University of Dublin

I thank the Minister of State for being here and welcome him to the House. At the outset I wish to stipulate that every State has the right to set its own terms on citizenship. I fully appreciate that and I am not arguing for open borders. However, I am saying that citizenship matters and asking people to show real commitment is reasonable. When the scheme was initially approved, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, said that Ireland values the contributions that migrants make. I believe him, but that fairness has to cut both ways. I know outside the gate today there are many people who came here on critical skills visas and so on. They came here in their thousands under the rules we had already set. They are nurses, engineers and carers, etc. People were recruited under the critical skills permit because we needed them. I got many emails from them in the past couple of weeks. I will give the example of one who arrived in 2023 and planned their life around a five-year plan that would see a new life for them. They came here with good intentions. That has now moved to eight years. They are not looking for special treatment but are asking why the goalposts are being moved halfway through the match. My first ask is about transitional protection. Should people already on the path in Ireland be judged by the rules they came in under? Is there a grandfather scheme or what happens to them?
Second, the scheme speaks of citizenship as an earned privilege and aligning ourselves with Europe. I understand that but it does not say what specific problem each new condition that is being introduced is meant to fix. The conditions include the eight years, the income test, the language and the civic tests. I am practical and pragmatic. If you name the problem then you can measure the answer. That brings me to my third ask. I am thinking about a review of the Bill requiring that a report to both Houses be provided within two years of commencement on whether the changes do exactly what they set out to do. I think that is only fair in any law.
A friend of mine was recently in intensive care in St. James's Hospital. It was meant to be a simple procedure. He ended up staying there eight weeks and the majority of staff on that ward were nurses from Kerala, India. The people who staff our wards and build our homes deserve fair play when it comes to this. When I have spoken on the radio about migration, I have been accused of wanting open borders. Then I would be on another show and be accused of not wanting any migrants. It is a delicate topic and it is hard to play all sides, but I think fairness is what is required. I also believe that changing the goalposts in the middle of the match is unfair.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24