I call Senator Conway-Walsh. Actually, it is the Independent group first. My apologies. I call Senator Lawless.

I wish to welcome my brother, Gerard, from Dubai, my brother-in-law, Patrick O'Toole, and all my friends from Galway and Cork - my mother was from Clonakilty.

I welcome the announcement by the Government to publish the general scheme of the Bill that will facilitate a referendum on whether the Irish diaspora should be entitled to vote in our presidential elections. As someone who has campaigned to allow the diaspora to vote in our elections for many years I am absolutely delighted that this question will now be put to the people.

I do not intend to address the myths and fears surrounding this referendum but instead speak to what kind of message a "Yes" vote would send to the world and the Irish community living throughout the globe. We spend a great deal of time in this country rightly expressing the pride we feel in giving a céad míle fáilte to all those who visit our shores and in how that welcome contributes to our world-famous tourism industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs and enriches communities throughout the country.

When our country was on the floor and net emigration began to rise again for the first time since the 1980s, foreign direct investment and tourism were what kept our economic engine from complete collapse. Our new and old diaspora gave us hope of what was possible. In September 2009 some 13% of the country was unemployed. Ireland's economy was falling rapidly at a rate of -7.1%. For the first time since 1995 more people left Ireland than moved here. However, in the middle of this state of hopelessness Ireland hosted its first ever global Irish economic forum. It blended major global businesses, thriving members of the Irish diaspora and some of our domestic champions to forge a vision of the future and of how Ireland was going to exit its economic nightmare. This confidence espoused hope for our future and ultimately laid the seeds for what was to be the bounty of our recovery: a diet of foreign investment and tourism.

As a nation we have always done better when we open our minds, hearts and island. It is in this context that I would like the referendum to be framed. Connections to the diaspora create more jobs, enhance communities and strengthen diplomatic ties throughout the world. Ireland is up there with the best in the world at harnessing these ties to our benefit, but we are not the best and we could be better. The best countries give their diaspora a real and meaningful voice. Rightly, in the recent local elections everyone living in the State was provided with a vote, including those who may only have been in Ireland for a year or with the intention of staying only three years. How can we say to those across the globe who wake up in the morning and log on to www.rte.ie, gather in Irish pubs to watch the GAA championships, teach their children Irish dancing and hold passports to this country that they are forbidden from any democratic connection to our nation? What about our brothers and sisters in Northern Ireland who have been cast away by an English Government that cares little for the democratic desire to stay part of the European Union? This vote will ask the Irish people whether they wish to allow our diaspora a formal say every seven years in choosing who is to represent our State, our island and our nation. As far as I am concerned, the Irish of the diaspora are just as Irish as every man and woman sitting in this House. I relish the chance to play a role in fighting for their voice to be heard in our democracy. I urge the Government to publish the scheme and then the Bill and to let us have this referendum in October.

I absolutely concur with what Senator Lawless has said. The scurrilous report in The Times by Sarah Carey over the weekend was absolutely disturbing. I say as much as someone who was part of the Irish diaspora and who lived in London for many years. Do people mean to tell me that because I returned here I can have a vote but that my brothers and sisters who live in Birmingham, London and other parts of the world are not allowed to have a vote? Our Irish diaspora are about more than simply shaking them down whenever we want some help or support.

We do not want to hear what they have to say. They are equally valid Irish citizens and on that basis they should certainly have a vote. It is not a gift to them. It is their absolute right to have a vote in presidential and other elections. Let us deal with the presidential elections first. There is nothing whatsoever to fear in hearing from the Irish diaspora.

I also want to talk about the strike and to appeal to the Minister and the Taoiseach. The strikes planned for tomorrow and next week can be averted. The impact they are going to have on the communities I and other Senators serve will be devastating. This is money that is already owed to those workers. It has already been agreed and has already gone through the mechanisms of the State. It has to be honoured. It is absolutely certain that this strike is going to be settled, so why not settle it now? Why not sit down in earnest with the unions and meet them halfway? They are willing to negotiate. I am appealing to the Taoiseach to do that.

I welcome our Private Members' motion in the Dáil this afternoon in respect of home help. It has to be tackled in a proper way. The social and economic impact of not dealing with the home help crisis will be devastating for the very communities that are affected by hospital closures, such as my own in respect of Belmullet hospital. I ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to come to the House and tell us why we are getting mixed messages. We are getting one message from the HSE after a meeting on Friday to say that a quarter of the beds in Belmullet hospital are going to be closed. Meanwhile we have the Minister, Deputy Ring, and the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, saying they are not going to be closed. People need certainty and a bit of truth and honesty around all this so we can have a proper healthcare service that is delivered close to the ground as was outlined in Sláintecare. Otherwise we might as well tear up the cross-party agreement that is Sláintecare.