I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter of the need for the Minister for Justice to review the application for citizenship of a person of Irish extraction from South Africa and that the review be carried out with a view to issuing the applicant with an Irish passport. I am a little disappointed that the senior Minister is not here for this important debate. In saying so, I do not wish to downgrade the Minster for State. He knows I have the greatest respect for him.
I have no intention of being controversial with regard to this issue. As we all know, the political situation in South Africa has changed utterly since the elections this year. White people are now living in a completely different milieu from that to which they were used. Many of them are afraid that the new terms of reference which define their citizenship may threaten their very existence. Moving from a position of racial superiority to equality is very difficult for many of the white population to handle. They feel threatened and insecure. Many find it difficult to relate to the new state. My information is that there is a small number of people there of Irish extraction. Some of them, in the interests of their future security, have been actively seeking Irish citizenship. The case I am discussing is an example.
I have discovered a wonderful romantic story which began in Capetown University and ended in, of all places, an old graveyard in Clones, County Monaghan. Mr. X and Ms Y became friends while they both attended this university. They fell in love and eventually married. X decided to trace his roots and discovered that his great-grandfather was born in Clones. As a result, his father was able to obtain an Irish passport and did so. When X discovered exactly who he was, his wife became curious about her roots. Research followed and there emerged an incredible result. Y's great-grandmother was also born in Clones. It would seem that, being contemporaries, the great-grandparents probably grew up together before separately emigrating to South Africa, where they lived unconnected lives. Members would agree that this is an extraordinary story.
On my advice, Mr. X made an application for Irish citizenship through the consular office in Johannesburg on 29 September 1993. The application would have been handled by the Department of Foreign Affairs under the foreign births register. Without the exercise of ministerial discretion, it failed. Mr. X corresponded with the Department of Justice in an effort to get the Minister for Justice to use her powers of discretion to offer him an Irish passport. I have copies of the correspondence between him and the Minister.
The first correspondence I have is addressed to the Minister, Deputy Geoghegan Quinn, and is dated 1 October 1993. On 6 October 1993 a letter was sent from the Office of the Minister acknowledging receipt of the letter and stating that it was receiving attention. On 13 October 1993 a further letter was issued to him and was exactly of the same nature as the previous one. On 12 November 1993 a letter was sent to him from the consulate in Johannesburg. This pointed out that because he did not come within the terms of the legislation, he was not entitled to a passport under that legislation. The consular office pointed out that he could directly petition the Minister for Justice for naturalisation. He did this on 22 November 1993, giving full details of his case. On 2 December 1993 the Office of the Minister for Justice, in the person of the Minister's private secretary, wrote to him stating that the Minister acknowledged receipt of the further letter and that it was receiving attention. No further correspondence has issued in the meantime. The Minister has paid no attention to the request this individual made.
I have resisted the temptation to become political about this matter. We have had enough controversy about passports recently and I do not intend to engage in any such controversy. However, I want to cite the recent case where the Minister used her powers of discretion to offer citizenship to an Arab woman and her son. Given the background to that case, I ask the Minister to exercise her powers of discretion by offering a passport to this applicant and I look forward to the Minister of State's response.
