asked the Minister for Justice the fee payable on the grant of a naturalisation certificate to a woman married to an Irish citizen.
30.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Naturalisation Certificates.
29.
asked the Minister for Justice the fee payable on the grant of a certificate of naturalisation to a man married to an Irish citizen.
31.
asked the Minister for Justice if a woman married to an Irish citizen is entitled to apply for, and obtain, a certificate of naturalisation as of right.
32.
asked the Minister for Justice if a man who is married to a woman who is an Irish citizen is entitled to apply for, and obtain, a certificate of naturalisation as of right.
(Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 to 32 together.
A woman who is an alien and is married to a man who is an Irish citizen otherwise than by naturalisation may make a declaration of acceptance of Irish citizenship whereupon she becomes an Irish citizen. A fee of £25 is payable. There is no corresponding provision in relation to an alien man who is married to an Irish citizen.
The fees payable on naturalisation in the other cases mentioned by the Deputy are £25 in the case of a woman married to a man who is an Irish citizen by naturalisation and £100 in the other case.
Can the Minister explain the rationale, if there is a rationale, in the situation which differentiates between a man marrying a woman who is an Irish citizen and vice versa and the fact that in the one case a fee of £25 in respect of citizenship is charged while in the other case the fee is £100? Has the Minister given any consideration to the constitutionality to that imbalance?
(Limerick East): It is difficult to defend the distinction. Perhaps it is on the basis only of expediency and not on the basis of principle. However, there is a difficulty. A virtue of the distinction is that it prevents men from contracting marriages of convenience for the purpose of useful citizenship and consequent access to the labour markets of Britain, Ireland and other EEC countries. British and Dutch officials have cited to us frequent cases of third-country nationals contracting such marriages which are followed by quick divorce and are for the purpose of the people concerned coming into the EEC countries as foreign spouses who are entitled to work. At the time the provision was made the likelihood of a man using that device was much greater than in the case of a woman but I would agree with the general drift of the Deputy's supplementary. All I can say is that I will consider the matter at an early date. In the meantime the position remains as set out in the reply to a parliamen-Deputy Mitchell as Minister on 17 December 1981 in reply to a parliamentary question from Deputy Fennell and also as set out by Deputy Doherty as Minister on 15 July 1982 by way of reply to Deputy O'Keeffe.
Presumably the matter has been under consideration by successive Ministers but is the time not ripe to rid ourselves of these blatantly sexist measures which have been extant in our laws for some years past?
(Limerick East): There has been a quick turnover of Ministers for Justice in recent times. When the provisions were introduced, they were introduced more by way of a privilege to women than by way of discrimination against men. It appears now internationally that there is more uniformity as between men and women in regard to the acquisition of citizenship but there is also the trend of the elimination of the right of the alien spouse to acquire automatically the citizenship of the other spouse. Therefore, early consideration in the light of similar experiences abroad might not necessarily move the situation in the direction in which the Deputy would wish it to move.