A Fianna Fáil backbencher supported the Opposition view that the citizenship referendum should have been referred to the All-Party Committee on Constitution. However, Mr Barry Andrews, who represents Dún Laoghaire and is chairman of the party's justice policy group, said he backed the proposed Constitutional amendment.
He was speaking on the second day of a special two-day debate on the 27th Amendment to the Constitution Bill to allow the citizenship referendum take place on June 11th.
Mr Andrews said he had served for 18 months on the committee investigating property rights.
"Admittedly, the issue of property rights is very complex, and has attracted much constitutional consideration in the Supreme Court over the past few decades, but citizenship is an equally complex issue and is worthy of the contemplation, at least, of the all-party committee, if not a wider body of interests groups which could make submissions."
Questioning the urgency of the referendum, Mr Andrews added: "Everybody has been aware of this problem for a considerable time, at the very least since January 2004 when the decision was made in the Supreme Court in the L and O case.
"The question must be asked whether there is an urgency now and, if so, why the referendum was only announced before Easter? If there is a fall-off in the number of refugee applicants, as there has been, then I ask why there is an urgency now?
"Why not await the outcome of the European Court of Justice hearing in the case of Mrs Chen to find out what it is about and what effect it will have on our legislation?"
Mr Andrews claimed it was "symptomatic of a long-standing problem within this House, which was a problem when both Fine Gael and Labour were in government and for as long as government backbenchers are generally herded into the Chamber as voting fodder".
He added that backbenchers were neither spoken to nor consulted, and it was regrettable "that we should be treated as a barely-tolerated inconvenience in some of these matters when we invest a lot of our time dealing with these issues and trying our best to make a sensible contribution."
Dealing with the amendment, Mr Andrews said: "Some members of the Opposition should be honest with themselves, and stand up and admit there is a necessity for the substance of this referendum. Fine Gael has been honest in that respect."
Mr Eoin Ryan (FF, Dublin South East) said the amendment was a modest measure to protect citizenship. "Suggestions that it is a racist move are most unfortunate."
It was the duty of Government to regulate and control immigration, and failure to do so would lead to racial tensions.
"By bringing forward this proposal, the Government is taking the lead, and bringing us into line with practice in all other EU countries.
