Migration and Citizenship: Statements Dail Éireann — 2026-09-30 ============================================================ Cormac Devlin (FF), Dún Laoghaire I welcome these statements and thank the Minister of State for his work to date. Irish citizenship is one of the most important things this State can confer. It is a legal status, a bond with the country and a commitment to its future. I welcome the general scheme of the Irish nationality and citizenship (amendment) Bill. Eight years' residence instead of five, language and civics tests and, importantly, a requirement to be self-sufficient are not unusual. Austria, Italy, Spain and Slovenia require ten years, and most member states test language and civic knowledge. That matters because an Irish passport is also a European passport. It carries the right to live, work, study and vote in the local and European elections across the Union, so our standards should be in line with our partners. However, reform must also be fair. Many people came here on work permits. They are nurses in our hospitals, carers in our nursing homes and staff in our businesses. They played by the rules as they were and I welcome the assurance that they will be fair. I ask the Minister of State to give consideration to those who are already here though. More generally, I welcome the continued progress on the asylum backlog. Since the International Protection Act commenced in June, new applications are being decided within six months or three months under the border procedure. Daily applications are down almost 40%. Last year, 4,700 deportation orders were signed, almost double that of the year before. More than 2,100 people left the State through deportation or voluntary means. Where someone has an unsuccessful application, they must be returned to their country of origin. That gives the asylum system credibility and protects it for those who genuinely need our protection. We must keep speeding up processing times, clear the cases already in the system and strengthen our borders. At European level, I welcome this summer's agreement on the new return regulation. I hope to see progress on the return hubs and I welcome the Minister of State's position on them. We also share a common travel area with the UK and I welcome the Minister's engagement with the home secretary on protecting it. It is only by working together with our EU partners and the UK that we can deal with the challenges this presents. I have two asks for the Minister of State. First, that clear transitional arrangements for those already living and working here are set out early, so they can plan with certainty. Second, that the Department publish quarterly figures on processing times and returns under the new Act, so this House can track progress. The system should be fair to those who play by the rules, firm with those who do not and in step with our European partners --- 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/dail/2026-09-30/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-30