Naturalisation and Citizenship: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-24 ============================================================ Colm Brophy (FG), Dublin South-West I have closing remarks to hand but I am going to speak back to what people have said. The first thing I want to make absolutely clear from my perspective as a Minister of State, from the Government's perspective and that of the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, is that we believe in fairness. Absolutely, at the heart of the decisions we try to take day to day on any aspect concerning migration, fairness and how it will impact are always at the forefront of our consideration. What we have looked at in this area with the changes we are bringing forward, is what we believe is a fair system. We believe it is a fair system in how it will impact on people who are going through the process to achieve what is an incredible privilege, which is Irish citizenship, and how it will impact on the State by having a system in place that is fair and reflects the modern values of the State. Every Government, as Senator McDowell said, is entitled to bring in a review of legislation and make changes to put in place what it believes to be the correct approach. In this area, that is what we are attempting to do. We are not fundamentally trying to make it more difficult for people to achieve citizenship. We are trying to have a process that will result in more inclusive citizenship for somebody who has earned the privilege of citizenship. A Senator who is unfortunately no longer present raised a number of things and asked what this or that will be. We have to factual about these things. We are having an early set of statements on legislation that is going in for pre-legislative scrutiny. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot ask everything you want to cherry-pick and look for an answer today when you know, as a legislator, that all those questions you are asking are part of the process we are going to go through. It is important to recognise that I want that pre-legislative scrutiny to be deep and strong and to give people an opportunity to work through these questions. We are not trying to do anything suddenly. I want to draw one or two small points. First, I appreciate people feel it is important to make mention here and there of other things but I do not want to conflate this discussion with things like IRP cards and how fast we are renewing them or whatever. To be clear, I recognise the problem that was in that area. I have committed extra resources and have asked my officials to commit extra resources to ensure we have a much better and more functioning process there. It does not have a particular impact in this area. I want to challenge Senator McCarthy on one thing. I take his bona fides on it and he brought a smile to my face with the notion that he could be in favour of an open-door immigration policy one day and the next be accused of being anti-migrant. It is something as Minister of State with responsibility for migration that I experience almost daily. Sometimes it can happen within an hour and within the one debate. Language is so important. I really value the work that is done by so many people who have come into this country, who work not just in the health system but in our tech industry and in construction. I want them to be here. I want them to participate fully in the country they have chosen to live in and to be able to work and to do all the other things. However, they do not come for citizenship. They come because they want to work, to live here, to participate and to base themselves here. The notion that somehow or other they think they have an automatic right to Irish citizenship because they have come here to work is not an idea I support. Citizenship is a privilege. It is something people must value, and they must have that as part of a process that is fair to them and to the State. That does not mean we want them to leave or that we somehow or other do not value them as much. Many EU states have a residence period of ten years and many have one of eight or nine years. Yes, others have a shorter period. Until now, we have had a shorter period. That does not mean that those states value or devalue those people. It does not mean that we use the number of years to compete as to whether or not people come here to work. I would like to think that one of the reasons people come here to work is that they get an opportunity to be part of a vibrant, strong, modern Ireland, to choose to earn their living here and to get the benefits of the pay and conditions available here in the industry or job in which they have chosen to work. I would be disappointed if the idea was that they picked a country off a map because they thought they would get citizenship in five years. If they have a plan that wants them to be here for long, surely we can build those extra few years into it. Issues were mentioned and thrown out about language support and that we must support people. To make it clear, we already do. We have integration funding and supports that help, through partnerships, people with language and language skills. It is critical that if someone wants to play a firm, developed role as a citizen in the country they have chosen to get citizenship in, their integration is based on the fact that they can use one of the main languages, whether the day-to-day language of English or the other official languages of Irish or Irish Sign Language. That is so important. I do not for one minute think that is an impediment to somebody getting citizenship. That is an enhancing process for someone to be able to use their citizenship to enjoy the full benefits of having it. I thank the Senators for their remarks. I look forward particularly to engaging with those who are on the justice committee and who have indicated their involvement in this process. We have now a process that will take place. At its heart, I believe that at the end of it we will have a better, more effective system that is fair to all. That is what the Minister and I want to see in terms of this legislative change. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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