“It is five years already, plus another two years by the time it is processed, so that is seven years. Moving it to eight years is essentially moving it to ten. These are people who are contributing to our society. They are paying taxes. They are working. They are integrating and the Government is simply moving the goalposts on them. People who had expectations around when they were going to have citizenship have had their lives upturned by this decision.”

“The goalposts should not be moved on them midway through the process. It is not fair. They should be assessed according to the rules under which they came to Ireland. This is about fairness and ensuring people who came here and followed the rules as they were laid out when they came are not simply told, when they are some bit of the way along, that the requirement is going up to eight or ten years. That is not fair.”

“These families have made a permanent commitment to this country and it would be deeply unfair to move the goalposts for these individuals now. It must not happen. The five-year rule must stay for anyone who is currently in this country.”

“They got really good jobs and paid lots of taxes. They bought a house. They pay their property tax and their TV licence. … They have done everything they were told to do, but suddenly the Government is pulling the rug from under them. They came here four and a half years ago. They were looking forward to applying for citizenship in January.”

“I will give the example of one who arrived in 2023 and planned their life around a five-year plan that would see a new life for them. They came here with good intentions. That has now moved to eight years. They are not looking for special treatment but are asking why the goalposts are being moved halfway through the match. My first ask is about transitional protection. Should people already on the path in Ireland be judged by the rules they came in under? … I also believe that changing the goalposts in the middle of the match is unfair.”

“A lot of people feel that they are having the rug pulled out from underneath them. They have been living here and have been contributing. … Some applicants may have been here for four years and six months. They had a pathway, a plan for their lives and suddenly that is about to change.”

“The rules on that should be based on the rules on the day they came here, and if new rules are being implemented, they should not be part of that. … It is the same as any rule that changes in that it should change from here on out.”

“That protection should be written clearly into the Bill. People who came here, planned their lives around the five-year rule, and are working here, especially those nearing eligibility, deserve certainty and fairness.”

“I think five years is enough if the application process is tough enough in the first place. … In that context, there are many here who are already making a good contribution to our country who should be rewarded through that pathway.”

“It is going after people who have migrated to our island, who have already contributed positively to our country, who work hard, who are part of our communities and who want to become citizens. All the Government has done is create uncertainty for these people, and to me this is wrong.”

“The transitional arrangements also need to be considered for those who have established their lives here under the existing rules and had legitimate expectations about when they would qualify for citizenship based on their reckonable residence.”

“The question of whether transitional arrangements should be put in place for people who have established their lives in Ireland under the existing rules with expectations around when they could apply for citizenship based on reckonable residency must be examined.”

“In fairness to the universal theme that has been evident in this Chamber, so far at least – and I have listened to the entire debate – every person who has stood up has spoken about the value and importance of migration, in all parties and none. … I urge the Minister of State and the senior Minister in the Department to examine this issue of being proportionate and fair to people who have played by the rules. They should be covered by the existing regime and not by any new regime that will be introduced.”

“I have a particular concern about the proposal to extend the residency period from five to eight years. I have constituents and friends who may already have started in the system or have not yet applied for citizenship and often have Irish partners. They are very concerned about these proposals. … It would send out an important message to those already in Ireland if the five-year requirement were to continue.”

“However, like other speakers, I would say there are people in our State at the moment who came here and who started on the citizenship journey. They are very far along that journey and their circumstances need to be taken into account.”

“Some people have come here, worked, paid their taxes, raised children and built their lives around an understanding of the pathway to citizenship that existed when they arrived. They now need clarity and certainty. They need to know where they stand.”

“However, reform must also be fair. Many people came here on work permits. They are nurses in our hospitals, carers in our nursing homes and staff in our businesses. They played by the rules as they were and I welcome the assurance that they will be fair. … First, that clear transitional arrangements for those already living and working here are set out early, so they can plan with certainty.”

“I understand the eight-year rule that the Minister is introducing but I would ask him to give consideration to some individuals who have been in the system, who have made Ireland their home and who are now finding that they will have to extend their time.”

“I look forward to a detailed debate there because there are questions with regard to addressing the transitionary arrangements. However, in the same way that these are common-sense proposals, I expect that those transition arrangements will also be dealt with in a common-sense way.”

“There should be some flexibility for those people who are in a family situation, co-parenting with an Irish citizen, and who should be in a position not to have to wait a further three years if they can satisfy the other criteria proposed to be brought into law.”

“It seems a little unfair, if they have chosen to stay here to study and then contribute to society, that we would not recognise those years.”

“There is no evidence for this because if the evidence existed, then the Minister would publish it. He has not done so and he will not do so.”

“What is most striking is that the Government has failed to explain what problems these measures are actually intended to solve.”

“However, I do not know what the problem is and maybe the Minister of State can outline what it is. What emergency are we responding to with this legislation? … All of our policy-making should be based on evidence and I am not seeing the evidence upon which this change was made.”

“I understand that but it does not say what specific problem each new condition that is being introduced is meant to fix. … If you name the problem then you can measure the answer.”

“As the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has said, no rationale, research or evidence has been presented by the Department for these proposed changes and no issues have been identified in the current system.”

“I would welcome discussion around the extension from five to eight years to see what is the basis for it, without prejudice, necessarily, but to understand the reasoning behind it.”

“That said, I fundamentally disagree with the proposal to change the basis on which citizenship by naturalisation would come about. In my opinion, we do not need to increase it to eight years. … I do not see the benefit for Ireland to increasing the period for naturalisation from five to eight years. I also do not think that anybody comes to this country on the basis of how long it takes before they apply for citizenship by naturalisation.”

“As regards the other changes, particularly with regard to citizenship, no one is coming to me saying there is a big problem with citizenship. The problem is trying to apply for it and the difficulties applicants are having with doing so.”

“There has never been any demand in this Dáil or anywhere else for a discussion about citizenship.”

“It is a solution to a problem that simply does not exist and one that will make real problems worse for people.”

“I am totally against the changes to the residency period requirement to apply for citizenship. They are totally unnecessary.”

“We need to have a fair, humane and evidence-based approach to how we do naturalisation and immigration.”

“It does not bring us in line with Europe. Thirteen of the 27 EU countries have a requirement of five years or fewer for citizenship.”

“The Minister of State mentioned about bringing us so that we are not an outlier in Europe. I do not accept that point because 11 other countries have a five-year requirement.”

“Claims that changes bring us into line with Europe do not ring true as several European countries retain the five-year rule, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and many others.”

“Extending the residency requirement to eight years before people can even apply for citizenship is out of line with other countries. France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands allow people to apply after five years. In Canada, Australia and the US, where thousands of Irish people go every year, people can apply after three to five years.”

“Last week, some of the people who will be impacted by these changes protested outside Leinster House. I was struck by what they chanted, ‘We work, we pay tax’. Their frustration was tangible. These changes are impacting people who have played by the rules and who undertake crucial work.”

“This country does not function without foreign workers. If the people who come here to give us the benefit of their expertise, hard work and experience were to leave, we would not have a healthcare sector, hospitality sector or tech sector.”

“Our healthcare system simply would not function if it was not for many people who have come from outside of the country on work permits.”

“These workers were actively recruited by State agencies to address critical staff shortages. … They work and pay their taxes, they are law-abiding and they have brought their families here with them. They are embedded in local communities, on parents’ councils in the schools their children attend, and they are members of our sports clubs, with many playing our national games.”

“They came here in their thousands under the rules we had already set. They are nurses, engineers and carers, etc. People were recruited under the critical skills permit because we needed them. … The people who staff our wards and build our homes deserve fair play when it comes to this.”

“How does five years working in our health service count for nothing? We are going to lose these people to other European countries. … We need immigrants. We should welcome those who have made a life here for themselves, contributed to our society and worked in our State services.”

“If they were to up sticks and leave, our health service could potentially collapse. Citizenship should not depend on income, because the income threshold will disproportionately affect people in lower paid but valuable employment – such as care workers; people whose jobs we could not fill if they did not do them – and also people with disabilities.”

“The State proposes an income threshold for citizenship but how can people demonstrate financial independence when the State’s own processing delays prevent them from working? People who applied lawfully and on time should not be financially punished because their application is sitting in a queue.”

“If people have been living and working in this country for five years and want to settle down here, they should have security and they deserve that, especially non-EU citizens who have to go through visas and difficulties every single time they need to go home if a family member is sick. … This is not needed and all the Government is doing here is making life miserable and creating guest workers in this country rather than people who have a stake in society.”

“We need highly skilled people. There is a competitive market for highly skilled labour in Europe at the moment. … However, we are making that more difficult and more challenging through these changes. It will create insecurity and they will choose to take their high skills elsewhere.”

“Citizenship is not merely a legal status; it is a statement of belonging. It is how people who have built their lives here, work here, raise their families here and contribute to our society become full and equal members of that society.”

“As Deputy Rice said, since the new announcement has been made, a lot of people have come to my clinics to plead that they are here. They want to make a life here. They want to be citizens of this amazing country.”

“We recognise that migrants make an enormous contribution to Ireland, including in our public services, economy and communities. Any reforms must recognise and respect that contribution.”

“For someone who has moved to Ireland, built a life here, worked here, raised a family and become part of the local community, naturalisation can be an incredibly significant moment.”

“Our birth rate is falling. Our elderly demographic is growing larger. There will be one million people over 65 by 2030 and 1.6 million by 2045. We need migration to keep this country and this economy stable.”

“There can be no doubt that migration has strengthened Ireland and enriched our society in countless ways.”

“People from every corner of the world have chosen to live, work, study and raise families here. They have contributed enormously to our economy, our public services, our communities and our culture, and they will continue to do so in the years ahead.”

“A rules-based system benefits everyone. It provides clarity and certainty for applicants, supports confidence among employers and communities and enables the State to manage migration in an orderly, fair and sustainable way.”