Jim O'Keeffe
Question:93 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether all the naturalisations granted under the passport for sale scheme were legitimately and properly issued. [23633/02]
Written Answers. - Passports for Investment Scheme.
Ministers for Justice enjoy a considerable discretion under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts in deciding whether or not to grant a certificate of naturalisation.
Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1986, sets out five conditions which must be fulfilled prior to the grant of a certification of naturalisation. The decision to naturalise is at the absolute discretion of the Minister for Justice of the day. Therefore, the Act of 1956 empowers the Minister to refuse a certificate even where all of the aforementioned conditions are fulfilled. There may be cases where previous Ministers for Justice have refused, in their absolute discretion, to grant a certificate of naturalisation and where I, or indeed another Minister for Justice, might have taken the opposite view and granted the application.
Conversely, the statutory conditions for naturalisation can be waived by the Minister in the case of certain categories of person even if one – or indeed all – of those conditions remain unfulfilled. I have, and my predecessors had, considerable powers of discretion in relation to these matters under the Act of 1956. It is not a power that is vested in the Government – it is a power that in law is vested in the Minister. Again there may be cases where previous Ministers for Justice would or would not have waived any or all of the conditions for naturalisation and where I might have taken the opposite view.
It is important to recognise therefore that the exercise of absolute discretion by the Minister of the day is a central element in the naturalisation process and the fact that I or any other Minister for Justice, with the benefit of hindsight, might disagree with a particular decision cannot be construed as an assertion that the certificate in question was not properly issued for legitimate reasons.
The Act of 1956 prescribes a case where the applicant has "Irish associations" as one in which the Minister can waive any or all of the conditions for naturalisation. Unfortunately, the Act gives no guidance on the precise meaning of the term "Irish associations". The rules of the investment based naturalisation scheme were intended to give such guidance in certain types of cases – that is cases which became known as investment based naturalisation cases.
The rules were administrative in character and formed no part of the legislative regime underpinning the naturalisation process. In my response to Parliamentary Question No. 5 on 17 October last, I am on record as having described the scheme which operated as being dependent on a very loose and questionable interpretation of the 1956 Act. Indeed in September 1996 the then Government decided to accept no new applications made in accordance with the administrative scheme pending the introduction of new legislation. However, the fact that I hold that view cannot be construed as implying that naturalisation certificates issued in good faith by my predecessors were not properly and legitimately issued.
The report of the review group on investment-based naturalisation, which I published in August, reveals that the September 1996 decision was not applied to cases, which were in the pipeline at that time. With certain exceptions, to which the report refers, the whole focus of activity after September 1996 was on processing applications which were outstanding at that time. My immediate predecessor accepted no new applications from investors under the scheme. Administrative schemes create legal rights and obligations and can be the subject matter of judicial review proceedings. Once a scheme is in place any Minister must operate it fairly and in accordance with the principles of natural justice. Successive Ministers for Justice, with the approval of their respective Governments, operated the scheme on that basis.