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Immigration Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020

Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Questions (633)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

633. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice if there are circumstances to allow the granting of citizenship to elderly Irish persons that have lived here their entire lives but happen to be born in England, Scotland or Wales as their parents had been migrant workers there and then returned home soon after the baby was born; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24734/20]

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Written answers

A person may be entitled to Irish citizenship through their parent(s) or grandparent(s), regardless of where the child was born, if they are eligible for Irish citizenship through descent.

If either parent was an Irish citizen at the time of the child's birth, they are an Irish citizen, irrespective of their place of birth. If the parent from whom they derive Irish citizenship was not alive at the time of their birth, but would have been an Irish citizen if alive at that time, they are also an Irish citizen. A person can derive citizenship through an Irish parent whether or not the parents were married to each other at the time of their birth.

If a person was born outside Ireland to an Irish citizen who was himself or herself born outside Ireland, and any of their grandparents was born in Ireland, then they are entitled to become an Irish citizen, and can do so by having their birth registered in the Foreign Births Register maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Further information can be found at: https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenship/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/ .

If they are of the third or subsequent generation born abroad to an Irish citizen (in other words, one of their parents is an Irish citizen but none of their parents or grandparents was born in Ireland), they may be entitled to become an Irish citizen by having their birth registered in the Foreign Births Register. This depends on whether the parent through whom they derive Irish citizenship had himself or herself become an Irish citizen by being registered in the Foreign Births Register before the person was born.

If a person is entitled to register, their Irish citizenship is effective from the date of registration. The Irish citizenship of successive generations may be maintained in this way by each generation ensuring registration in the Foreign Births Register before the birth of the next generation.

More information can be found on the Immigration Service website at: https://www.irishimmigration.ie/citizenship/ .

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