Migration and Citizenship: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Richard O'Donoghue (II), Limerick County

I will make it very simple, as I always have, and say that if people of any nationality are migrating to this country are here to work, support their families, integrate, support society and respect Ireland - as we do - then we will respect them and they are welcome. If people are here for the wrong reasons, they should turn on their heels and get out. It is as simple as that.
People in Ireland are the most welcoming in the world. They integrate and they work with everyone and all different nationalities. They respect everyone's religion and everyone respects ours. That is what I support. However, there have been people who are here for years who have done exactly what I said in that they have worked hard here, applied for citizenship, integrated and supported their families and communities. The rules on that should be based on the rules on the day they came here, and if new rules are being implemented, they should not be part of that. They should be recognised from the time they applied. It is the same as any rule that changes in that it should change from here on out. It is true we need to tighten up our citizenship and that 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 here. As for the ones who came here for the wrong reasons, we need everyone's help to get rid of them.

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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