Minister 'lifting policies from various far-right actors' to reform citizenship rules, TD says

Paul Murphy has strongly criticised new plans from justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, which will see the residency timeline extended to eight years from five before citizenship can be granted, alongside the introduction of new language tests. File picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Government changes to citizenship rules are just “lifting policies” from far-right actors online, a People Before Profit TD has said.

Paul Murphy has strongly criticised new plans from justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, which will see the residency timeline extended to eight years from five before citizenship can be granted, alongside the introduction of new language tests.

“I think this is the latest episode of performative cruelty by Jim O’Callaghan,” Mr Murphy said. “This is just about making life harder for some people.”

The Dublin South-West TD said it would impact the people who work in Irish hospitals and who are already integrated into society, and would make people’s lives harder for the benefit of “nobody”.

He said it was being done to “make people think that there's a problem here when there is no problem”.

He referred to similar policies being discussed by the German Chancellor, Freidrich Merz, which Mr Murphy said was to head off the rise of the far-right AfD party.

“It’s the same game the Government is engaged with here. 

It’s lifting policies from the social media platforms of various far-right actors, suggesting that they’re going to be very hard in terms of immigration.

“This is a playbook which has been tried and tested over and over again by those parties at the so-called centre, and the only result is to normalise the rhetoric of the far right, to legitimise the rhetoric of the far right.”

Mr Murphy said such tactics only move the Overton window, a metric of what the public finds politically acceptable, further to the right.

“I actually think that the government is underestimating the scale of the backlash that they're going to see,” Mr Murphy said.

He told reporters that he has been “inundated” with emails in recent days, from both people living here and partners of people seeking citizenship, questioning why the measure is being taken.

Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said it was “lunacy” to introduce language tests.

On Wednesday, Cabinet formally approved the drafting of legislation to strengthen naturalisation laws, with Mr O’Callaghan saying he believed the new proposals were “balanced, proportionate and necessary”.

The TDs were speaking as People Before Profit-Solidarity held their annual think-in at Buswells Hotel in Dublin, with discussions focused on the cost of living, gender-based violence, and the impact of data centres.

Among the proposals the party has put forward ahead of the budget is a €500 energy credit for all households, alongside a second credit for families that have a person with a disability.

• Tadgh McNally, political reporter