Political parties eye compromise on citizenship reforms amid claims of ‘lies’ being spread

Debate on migration in Ireland and internationally “is being poisoned by fascism”, a Sinn Féin TD told the Dáil during exchanges on plans to reform Irish citizenship rules.Martin Kenny said people “are spreading all kinds of lies” and nonsense countrywide and “feeding people’s egos to make them believe that we Irish are better than everyone else”.Many of those spreading these views are connected to international fascists and parties like Alternative for Germany and the National Front in Britain. “These are the people who are poisoning the atmosphere and we need to spell that out as well and recognise that,” the Sinn Féin TD said.READ MOREHe was speaking during a debate on the reform of rules on citizenship and immigration, requiring residency to increase from five to eight years before applying for citizenship.A majority of political parties called for the new rules to be reviewed so they do not affect people who have already applied for citizenship. And TDs noted Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s suggestion last week in New York of possible leniency for those whose applications are already in the system.Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue said “we have an open-door policy that we need to tighten up, but the good people who came here for the right reasons should be accommodated” and should not be part of the new rules, but “recognised from the time they applied”. However, Independent TD Carol Nolan believed the changes did not go far enough and “the time for citizenship and immigration permissions being issued like confetti is well past”.The new rules will also require language proficiency, a civics test and financial self-sufficiency, and Kenny said he did not hear any constituents “having a big problem with citizenship changes”. The problem was the difficulty those already seeking citizenship have in making their applications. The first change “has to be a system that actually works for people so those who are here and want to stay and contribute to society can deal with it. “They need to have a human being to talk to at the end of the phone because nobody can get that. My office is inundated with people who cannot get this sorted out”, as the system moved from local gardaí dealing with issues to a “portal”.Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy said Irish policy “has been driven by short-term decisions. Student permission numbers have been driven by the needs of language schools and cash-strapped colleges. “Employment permits have been driven by the needs of sectors” and governments “failed to adequately plan for skills shortages with no account of pressures on housing and public services”.The international protection system was dysfunctional and “these failures have created chaos, increased tensions and undermined social cohesion in a way that was entirely avoidable”.Labour TD Eoghan Kenny told Minister of State Colm Brophy he “cannot out-far right the far right. You will not win.” He accused the Government of scapegoating applicants “to appease a racist sentiment”.But the Minister said the Government was proposing a package of measures that reflects a modern society and European norms. “It reflects how people feel about the importance and the privilege that attaining Irish citizenship is.” It ensures “that citizenship is a very genuine, deep citizenship that somebody has an opportunity to feel they have achieved through a whole range of experiences”, including life and work experience, knowledge of Ireland, proficiency in the language and “their ability to contribute”.He stressed “it is never just any simple matrix such as “how many years have I been here, I must have citizenship”.