The Taoiseach is in the United States this week.

So is Gerry.

Doing a bit of fund-raising.

I have no doubt that he will meet representatives of Irish America as part of his visit. That is most welcome. Reaching out to and engaging in dialogue with our diaspora is essential, particularly given the massive increase in emigration again in recent years and the whole new generation of young people scattered across the globe. I know, too, that the Fianna Fáil leader, Deputy Martin, visited Queen's University Belfast last week, and preached to citizens of the North on the rights and benefits of EU citizenship. Again, I welcome that. However, we need more than rhetoric. We need better from all Members than saying one thing and doing another.

Yesterday in the Seanad, we saw one of the worst examples of hypocrisy and double-crossing we have seen from either the Tánaiste's party or its partner, Fianna Fáil, in the current term, when a Bill moved by Seanadóir Niall Ó Donnghaile to extend voting rights in presidential elections to people in the North, to people forced to emigrate and to the diaspora was voted down. When the opportunity to extend those rights arose and when push came to shove, despite all of the rhetoric, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil walked off the pitch. Perhaps that is not all that surprising. I have with me a letter from the Tánaiste's former colleague and former Minister, Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, practically begging the Taoiseach to extend voting rights. He says in his letter that if the Government fails to respond positively, he will be forced to work with one hand tied behind his back. He is talking in terms of voting rights.

Fianna Fáil, for its part, had given an assurance that it would support the Bill, until Senator Mark Daly, who I believe is sincere on this issue, received a call from his party leader, Deputy Martin, to vote against it. This is gutter stuff on an issue that should not be divisive and that is about connecting the people of the North and the diaspora and giving them a place in our society. It is about giving those whom the Government forced out of this country during the economic crash a say in the future of Ireland.

Eighteen years ago, the Good Friday Agreement enshrined in law the rights and entitlements of Irish citizens across all of Ireland's 32 counties, including those in the North. It did not give partial citizenship or second-class citizenship; it gave full Irish citizenship as of right. Why the stalling? Today is 1 December and Christmas is on people's minds. Loved ones, friends and family are planning journeys home from Canada, Australia and the United States. Many more thousands will not make it home. I wish to ask the Tánaiste if she will do the decent thing. Will she commit now to extending the presidential vote to Irish citizens in the North and in the diaspora?

There was obviously a very full discussion in the Seanad yesterday on this topic. The first point I want to make is that we are committed to progressing this issue and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is committed to it, as he made very clear in his Seanad speech yesterday, in which he outlined in detail the range of issues that need to be considered before the Government moves forward on this. It is not about stalling, it is about having a detailed examination of the range of issues that arise in the context of extending this franchise.

That is what was presented very clearly to Senators during the course of the debate yesterday. There are 3.5 million people outside of Ireland with an Irish passport but there are 70 million people in the Irish diaspora who have an interest in this issue. There are considerable practical implications to extending the franchise. That said, the Constitutional Convention recommended this and the Government is committed to furthering the proposal.

Yesterday the Minister of State explained that an options paper would be prepared, outlining the best approach to this in the context of all of the practical considerations that need to be examined. Even an initial glance at this shows that extending the franchise has huge implications in terms of the practicalities, how it would work, the relationship to people in different countries and so forth. An options paper is being prepared and will be presented to the Cabinet in January. That will ensure there is significant impetus to the work that the Minister of State has been engaged in on this issue. Important work is being done in terms of analysing the various issues arising from extending the franchise to a broader group around the world.

The Government is running away from this issue. The letter I quoted from earlier is dated 30 September 2014. It is very clear that all the rhetoric, lip service and tea and sympathy delivered in Liverpool, Manchester, London, New York, Boston, Sydney or Brisbane amounts to a con on the part of the Government. It is an utter disgrace.

The Constitutional Convention recommended that the right to vote in the presidential election be extended to citizens of the North who are full Irish citizens and to the diaspora, to people forced out of this country. Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, to his credit, in the letter to An Taoiseach on that occasion said, "For those who feel that the State failed them and forced them to emigrate, this offers an opportunity to rebuild trust and to look to the future." How is trust to be established when it is so clear that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will do a lot of talking on this issue and make a lot of promises but fail to act and, even worse, block the action required to give this basic right to those citizens? Could it be that the biggest impediment is the fear that those forced out of this country because of Fine Gael's incompetence and that of its colleagues in Fianna Fáil might, from a distance, deliver an electoral verdict that the Government is not keen on?

That is incorrect.

We are taking the issue seriously but unlike Deputy McDonald, we must have a detailed reply to the range of questions that arise from extending the franchise.

Mr. Jimmy Deenihan raised this in September 2014. He is a party colleague, is he not?

Detailed information is required and a detailed analysis must be carried out. The Deputy is calling for this at a principled level, but the Government must examine it in detail and look at the implications. One recommendation of the Constitutional Convention, for example, was that only those who had lived in Ireland should qualify for the franchise. Obviously that must be examined because it has implications in terms of who precisely qualifies. Detailed work needs to be done on this and it is being done by the Minister of State. I have already told the Deputy that the Minister of State is examining it and taking it seriously. He is developing an options paper which will deal with the practical implementation of this.

It is a con job.

That needs to be done. Does Sinn Féin have the answers? Has it presented a paper with all of these answers? I do not think it has-----

We presented a Bill but the Government voted against it.

-----but at a principled level, it calls for the extension of the franchise. We are doing the work that any Government would need to do and are being supported by Fianna Fáil in that.

Of course.

We all have family members who are affected. Sinn Féin does not have a monopoly in that regard. We all have family members living abroad and Members right across this House care about this issue.

Then do something about it.

That is why the Constitutional Convention was asked to examine it and why an options paper is being developed. That paper will be presented to the Cabinet.

When?

It will be ready and presented in January.

We read in The Irish Times this morning that the Minister for Finance briefed the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party on the upcoming Exchequer figures. That is a great privilege for all those in Fine Gael. The rest of us will find out afterwards. It appears that the Minister, Deputy Noonan, has briefed his colleagues to the effect that the tax receipts for November will be some €280 million above profile. That would bring us to an end of year position of approximately €900 million over profile, the amount needed to meet all the commitments the Government has already given. The trend means that it is reasonable to assume that the December tax receipts will also be substantially above target. That means also that the Tánaiste and her colleagues will have room to help the living standards of working people. I hope she does help working people, but I very much doubt she will do that.

There are many ways the Tánaiste could do that, and I ask her to outline those to the House. For instance, some acceleration of public sector pay restoration could easily be done for the amount we are talking about, thereby avoiding the industrial unrest coming down the line. Given the flawed, highly political and legally unsound water commission report published during the week-----