The Human Rights Commission has accused the Government of relying on "vague and anecdotal" evidence to justify the citizenship referendum.
In one of the strongest attacks yet on the proposals laid out by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, the commission also claimed that the referendum may breach the rights of Irish-born children under two international human rights treaties.
"The differential treatment which is likely to result between citizen and non-citizen children may constitute unlawful discrimination under international law in respect of a new category of non-citizen children," it said.
In a preliminary legal critique, the commission said the proposal to restrict the citizenship of children born in Ireland to non-EU parents raised "significant issues" in relation to the human rights of such children and their families.
However, it was not apparent that the Government had given "serious and comprehensive consideration" to the human rights consequences of the referendum.
The commission also expressed concern that the Government failed to consult it before deciding to proceed with the referendum and before it published the Bill to allow the poll take place on June 11th.
In addition, it said the proposal did not meet the requirements set out in international law under which the Government was obliged to justify any repression of the existing protection of human rights by "reasonable and objective" standards. The commission said it was not convinced the Government had demonstrated that there was a need to restrict citizenship rights or that "other means of addressing any purported social need have been adequately explored which would not have the same detrimental effect on human rights".
It went on: "The commission believes that the data provided by the Government to justify the proposed amendment is weak and is concerned that much of the evidence and rationalisation for the proposed amendment seems to be vague or anecdotal in nature."
"Any restriction on the human rights of children within the State must be guided by the principle of proportionality set out in international human rights law," the commission said.
