been used by legal representatives to establish Irish nationality for stateless children.42 Section 10 of the 1956 Act deals with foundlings, providing that every deserted new-born child first found in the State shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been born in the island of Ireland to parents at least one of whom is an Irish citizen. The legal framework also provides for naturalisation of persons in Ireland. Section 16 of the Act states that the Minister may, “in his absolute discretion”, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation although not all of the conditions for naturalisation are complied with in the case of refugees and of stateless persons within the meaning of the 1954 Convention. In practice, this section generally operates as a waiver in relation to the length of reckonable residence required (normally 5 years which is then reduced to 3 years under this waiver) before citizenship can be acquired. Section 16 of the 1956 Act and the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Fees) Regulations 201143 seek to give effect to Article 32 of the 1954 Convention, which requires states to facilitate, as far as possible, the naturalisation of stateless persons, to make every effort to expedite naturalisation proceedings and to reduce, as far as possible, the charges and costs of such proceedings. The provisions of the 1956 Act relating to stateless persons are quite clear in their import. Additionally, these provisions partly fulfil the actions recommended in Action 6 of the Global Action Plan, to make the acquisition of nationality easier for stateless persons. Despite this, there can be significant practical obstacles to relying on these provisions in the absence of a stateless determination procedure as outlined below. At the time of writing this report, two bills on nationality and citizenship are before Dáil Eireann (House of Representatives) and Seanad Éireann (Senate) respectively: The Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Citizenship for Children) Bill 202044 and the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018.45 While neither bill refers specifically to statelessness, they both provide for a shorter time period to acquire citizenship for children born on the island of Ireland. 3.1.2 International Protection Act 2015 Ireland is a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its core provisions are transposed into national law by the International Protection Act 2015. Stateless persons who meet the definition of a refugee as set out in section 2 of the Act are entitled to refugee protection in Ireland. For stateless persons, the reference country for the refugee status assessment is ‘country of former habitual residence.’ Similarly, such persons are entitled to subsidiary protection if there is a real risk of them suffering serious harm on return to their country of former habitual residence. 42 For further information on the reduction of childhood statelessness see chapter 6. 43 Irish Nationality and Citizenship Regulations 2011, S.I. No. 569/2011, available at: https://bit.ly/3W8Qlrj See also the parliamentary question response by Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne to question 463-464 of 12 October 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3VOKJCX 44 Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Citizenship for Children) Bill 2020 (Bill 33 of 2020), available at: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2020/33/ 45 Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018 (Bill 124 of 2018), available at: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2018/124/ UNHCR 15