I second Senator Gerald Nash's proposal.

There was an incredible turn of events in this Chamber last week. For over a week, Fianna Fáil led us to believe its Senators would support a Sinn Féin motion urging the Government to fulfil the call of the Constitutional Convention to hold a referendum to change the Constitution and allow people from the North and the diaspora to vote in the next presidential election, which is due to be held in 2018. I thank the Senators who supported the motion, particularly Senator Billy Lawless who explicitly supported it. There was great expectation that this nationally and internationally important motion would be supported and that it would be carried, but at the eleventh hour the leadership of Fianna Fáil dramatically changed its position and supported Fine Gael's amendment which, at best, delays the constitutional referendum and, at worst, buries it until after 2018. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, said, on the one hand, that it was a priority for the Government but, on the other, that he could not foresee any movement until 2019, three years from now. That would be five years after the recommendation being made by the Constitutional Convention. What is the reason for the delay? The Government could sort out this matter in the morning. However, there is a lack of will to do so and this must change. Tens of thousands of people across the North and similar numbers across the world are keen to vote for the President in 2018. What does the Government say to them? What does Fianna Fáil say to them? What has Fianna Fáil to state to its supporters after doing a U-turn on supporting the motion? I spoke to many Fianna Fáil activists over the weekend and they could not believe what the party had done in not supporting the motion. Why has Fianna Fáil ditched its party policy on this crucial issue? Last week was a missed opportunity. However, all is not lost. I call on the Government to change course on this matter and Fianna Fáil to revert to supporting the right of people in the North and the diaspora to vote in presidential elections. I call on the people to organise in support of the campaign to have voting rights in presidential elections extended to people in the North and the diaspora. The relevance of this House to Irish citizens in the North and abroad will be judged on how sincere Members are about prioritising presidential voting rights for Irish citizens, regardless of where they live. Make no mistake - the battle for the equalisation of Irish citizenship will continue.

The question is when is a property right a property right? Why is it always the working class that pays? Why do the same fat cats always win?

I am raising the issue of Independent News & Media, but I may well be talking about Aer Lingus, decent public servants who have seen the abatement of their pension schemes. Was it a property right when they received it? It seems that other people who can claim property rights are untouchable, but the property rights of the working classes are never untouchable. I hear today of people who are taking a 70% cut in their pension payments. Surely, the Oireachtas could do something, send in some inspector to see why shareholders are about to receive a dividend after so many years when the pension payments of the poor old guy who built the company with his sweat and blood and the journalists who went out and tracked down the criminals of this country are being cut to the bone, leaving them desolate and with nothing in their old age. Why can they do it? They can do it because they know that the State will pay the allowance if they are broke. They also know that the State will have to fund them in hospital if they are broke. It has gone beyond a joke. Since 2008, workers have been crucified, yet the same God-damned names keep appearing and they are making millions on the backs of the people. It has to stop. We have to do something about it. For the life of me, I do not know what to do about it, other than to run them all out of the country. I do not suppose we can do that, but we must do something. Perhaps we should have the Minister for Finance come to the House for a debate on the matter. A pension right is a pension right and should not be touched by anybody.

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by my colleague, Senator Keith Swanick, who is to be lauded for his efforts in that regard in the past few months. It is unfortunate that the National Treasury Management Agency and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund have been investing taxpayers' money in three tobacco companies, while at the same time, tobacco companies have been threatening to sue the State as a result of the efforts it is making to stop young people from taking up this deadly habit.

I support the call made by my colleague, Senator Terry Leyden, that the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment be called to the House to discuss the particular issue he raised of the potential breach of the boundaries of County Roscommon and the urgent need for a constitutional referendum on the Lower House in order that there can be positive discrimination towards rural Ireland. The sooner that is done, the better. If the population growth continues to occur on the east coast and in the major urban areas, rural Ireland will end up with very few Members of the Dáil and the Seanad. I urge that we debate this issue as soon as possible when we come back in the new year.

I wish to clarify an issue raised by Senator Rose Conway-Walsh for the benefit of the House. She is correct and I apologised to the Sinn Féin Whip, Senator Paul Gavan, on Wednesday last. I indicated to him that the Fianna Fáil Party would support his motion, not a Bill. However, on closer examination, it was indicated to a colleague of mine - unfortunately, I was not available for personal reasons that afternoon - that we would prefer to examine in more detail a definition of the diaspora and set the cut-off point. Would everybody with an Irish passport and someone who might never have been on the island of Ireland have a vote in a presidential election? There were concerns. I apologised to the Chief Whip of the Sinn Féin Party and will do so again in the House as he is not to blame.

There was a concern that we should look at the motion, rather than a Bill, in more detail. That is why it was decided that we should vote in favour of the amendment. That is the situation and there was no hidden agenda. As a party, we are still totally committed to giving votes to the diaspora, but it is important to identify who exactly are the diaspora before we go any further.

That has been done.

The Constitutional Convention did it.

I am sure Senator Diarmuid Wilson's apology is noted, as is his integrity.