Citizenship should be a pathway to belonging, not another barrier to overcome.
As part of the Oireachtas Committee's pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026, we have outlined serious concerns about proposals that would make citizenship less accessible for refugees and other migrants.
We recommend that the bill should not be taken forward. No evidence has been presented for its rationale and the very significant changes it would make to Ireland’s citizenship process.
These changes are regressive, unnecessary. They would mean that a refugee could feasibly be waiting 10+years to naturalise, leading to worse integration outcomes for migrants and for the State. The Heads covering income, housing support and social welfare payments risk further marginalising some people in Ireland andmaking naturalisation a privilege of the wealthy.
The suggestion that these provisions bring us “in line” with Europe is spurious. Furthermore, the General Scheme does not address the real gaps which exist such as the lack of a right to long-term or permanent residency for most migrants outside of naturalising; and the exclusion of children from applying for citizenship independently. Both of which other countries in the EU have provisions in place.