1. What are people being asked to do in the referendum?

Voters are being asked to vote Yes or No to inserting a new clause into Article 9 of the Constitution. This clause would read:

"1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, a person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, who does not have, at the time of the birth of that person, at least one parent who is an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen, is not entitled to Irish citizenship or nationality, unless provided for by law.

2. This section shall not apply to persons born before the date of the enactment of this section."

2. What will happen if the vote is Yes?

If the vote is Yes the new clause will be inserted. This will allow the Government to introduce a new Citizenship Bill to regulate the citizenship rights of children born in Ireland after the date of the referendum. A draft of that Bill has been published, and provides that a child of two non-national parents can only become an Irish citizen if at least one parent has lived for three out of the previous four years in Ireland. This does not apply to foreign students living in Ireland, or those living here illegally, whose children will not be eligible. Different regulations will apply to citizens of the EU, who have the right to live and work in Ireland.

However, that Bill may not be the final one brought before the Dail. It can also be amended during the debate. Other regulations governing the citizenship of children born in Ireland could be introduced in later amending legislation. To sum up - we don't know what citizenship regime will apply to children born to non-nationals if the referendum is passed. The amendment gives the Government the right to decide on it through legislation.

3. What will happen if the vote is No?

If the vote is No the status quo will apply. That means that all children born in Ireland, north or south, irrespective of the nationality of their parents or how long their parents have been in Ireland, will have an automatic right to Irish citizenship.

This does not mean they, and their parents, have the right to live in Ireland, as this right was removed by a Supreme Court judgment in January 2003. However, it does mean that some of them, if they are able to support themselves fully, could live elsewhere in the EU.

4. What is the situation now?

Since the insertion of a new Article 2 into the Irish Constitution in 1998, as part of the Belfast Agreement, any child born in Ireland, north or south, has a right under the Constitution to Irish citizenship at birth. This applies to a child born to either Irish or British citizens in Northern Ireland, Irish citizens in the Republic, or the children of the citizens of any other country, irrespective of how long either parent has been in the country.

This right existed in law from the foundation of the State until 1998, but our citizenship law could have been amended to alter it. Since 1998 this is no longer possible.

Irish citizenship is also available to the children and grandchildren of Irish citizens who are not born in Ireland, even if their parents have never lived in, or even visited, Ireland. There is no proposal to change this.

5. What prompted the proposal for change?

Since the economic boom of the 1990s there has been growing migration into Ireland, and a huge growth in the number applying for asylum status. Some of these applicants acquired the right to reside in Ireland as the parents of Irish-born children. The Government took a case to the Supreme Court last year challenging the right of foreign parents of Irish-born children to reside in Ireland, and won. However, according to the Government, the number of pregnant women coming here to claim asylum and also have their babies in Ireland did not significantly decrease.

The Government says that the existing situation allows for "citizenship tourism", where pregnant women from other countries, especially those generating large number of migrants into the EU, could come to Ireland to have their babies and acquire Irish citizenship for them. It said that the number coming here, and the fact that some were arriving in Ireland and presenting to maternity hospitals late in pregnancy, was leading to serious problems for Dublin maternity hospitals.

6. What are the arguments for change?

The arguments for change include the need to curb such alleged abuses. These arguments were amplified by a recent preliminary judgment in the European Court of Justice. Here a Chinese woman, who on legal advice had given birth to a daughter in Belfast, claimed the right to live in the UK on the basis that her Irish citizen daughter was an EU citizen and enjoyed the right to reside in an EU state. She won in the preliminary judgment. A final judgment is due in the autumn, and usually, though not always, follows the preliminary judgment.

Other EU member states do not allow for automatic citizenship at birth. The Government is concerned that we will become a "back door" into the EU for those who otherwise would not have the right to reside there, if we continue to grant the right of citizenship at birth.

7. What are the arguments against change?

These vary. There are those who do not rule out some constitutional change in the area, but are opposed to the nature and timing of this proposal. They stress the fundamental importance of citizenship in the Constitution, and argue that any change needs serious consultation and debate. They point to the fact that the new Article 2 arose out of the Belfast Agreement, approved overwhelmingly in a referendum, and express serious concerns about changing it. They also point to the lack of consultation with the Northern Ireland parties who negotiated the agreement, with the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution, the Human Rights Commission and other bodies, and the absence of a Green Paper, which normally precedes a constitutional referendum.

There are also those who oppose the substance of the proposal. Their arguments include stating that it will create two categories of children born in Ireland, those with citizenship and those without, and that this will provide the basis for discrimination between them. They also point to the provision in the legislation restricting citizenship rights to the children of those legally resident in Ireland for three years, stating that this would mean no citizenship for the children of migrant workers who had lost their residency right through no fault of their own, and to various other anomalies.. They argue that we do not know what citizenship regime will follow, as it can be changed by the Oireachtas at any time.

8. Who is for and who is against the proposed amendment?

The Government parties, Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats, support it, as does Fine Gael, though it is concerned about the timing.

The Labour Party, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and some Independent TDs oppose it, as does the Human Rights Commission, along with various non-governmental organisations, including the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Irish Refugee Council.