Maternity scam – Citizenship referendum justified

Documents acquired by the Irish Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act provide evidence that wealthy Arabs and east Europeans are abusing our maternity services as a kind of citizenship bureau to acquire cheap Irish passports for their children.

The process was highlighted by National Maternity Hospital master Declan Keane in letters that he sent last year to the Eastern Regional Health Authority (EHRA), Health Minister Micheál Martin and Justice Minister Michael McDowell, saying that our maternity services were being put under undue pressure by the number of non-nationals arriving to give birth.

The passports-for-sale practice, stopped in the 1990s, has been replaced by another process, in which some people outside the country have been organising what amounts to maternity tours for pregnant women, so that each can have her baby in Ireland, thereby ensuring that the baby has Irish citizenship and the full benefits of membership of the European Union.