Referendum/ Yes campaign: The Coalition has stepped up its campaign for a Yes vote in the citizenship referendum with three senior Government figures defending the proposals introduced by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, and the Government chief whip, Ms Mary Hanafin, each made statements yesterday in which they dismissed efforts by some Opposition parties to link the poll with racism.
Ms Harney said it was completely wrong to say that the holding of the referendum encouraged racism or that it was racist to vote for the Government proposal.
"Giving the power to legislate to elected representatives cannot possibly be racist. It would be a sorry state if we could not allow elected representatives to deal with complex issues for fear of being labelled racist," Ms Harney said.
The current regime allowed people to acquire citizenship for their children even if they had no connection with Ireland and continued to have no connection.
"This is not a situation in which citizenship is sufficiently valued and honoured," she said.
Ms Harney said the Government proposal would introduce a citizenship regime for the children of non-Irish or non-EU parents that would mirror the process whereby adults acquired citizenship by naturalisation.
"In most cases, adults who acquire citizenship by naturalisation through marriage or otherwise must be resident for a number of years to be eligible," she said.
"Many of them put down roots in Ireland and make a valuable contribution to our society before being able to become citizens. This is fair and reasonable.
"No person's human rights will be taken away by this change in our Constitution. It is not part of international human rights obligations on states to make citizenship available by birth alone. States are free to regulate citizenship," she said.
"We are taking care to make sure that no person will be left stateless by this change. If a person born here of non-national parents is not entitled to any other citizenship, then he or she will be an Irish citizen."
The Tánaiste went on: "We are taking great care to preserve the rights of children born of British nationals or of residents of Northern Ireland, so that no part of the Good Friday agreement is undermined."
Mr Martin highlighted the preliminary European Court of Justice ruling in the Chen case which said a Chinese mother and her Irish-born daughter were entitled to live in any EU country on account of the child's Irish citizenship.
"The opinion delivered in the Chen case before the highest court in Europe this week has been decisive in drawing public attention to how the loophole in our citizenship law has been used to circumvent immigration controls in other EU states," he said.
"There is now no doubt at all as to the 'why?' and 'why now?' questions relating to the referendum."
Ms Hanafin said the Greens and Sinn Féin had deliberately underplayed the significance of the Chen judgment in their campaigns against the proposal.
The exploitation of Irish citizenship laws by non-EU nationals seeking residency rights undermined the value and integrity of Irish citizenship in Europe, she said.
