Rabbitte accuses Govt of misleading information
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte has said the Government claim that a worrying number of non-nationals were abusing Ireland’s existing citizenship rights was misleading.
The Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition has been frequently referring to figures showing that up to one-quarter of births in Dublin last year were to non-nationals.
Mr Rabbitte said most of these non-nationals were living and working in Ireland legally and were not abusing any constitutional provisions.
The proposed referendum would remove the birthright to citizenship from the Irish-born children of non-national parents.
Under the amendment, such children would only be entitled to citizenship if their parents had been legally resident in Ireland for a number of years.
Opponents of the proposed referendum have accused the Government of playing the race card and using the citizenship vote to attract votes during the local and European elections.
They have also criticised the speed with which the referendum was organised, saying the Government was not allowing enough time for a proper public debate on the matter.
