Fine Gael European election candidate Mr Jim Higgins has offered his Seanad seat to an Irish emigrant group if elected in June.
The candidate in the North-West constituency said he would pass over his seat to a representative of the Federation of Irish Societies, which campaigns for assistance for Irish emigrants in Britain.
The move is supported by party leader Mr Enda Kenny, who said he would be taking up the idea with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
Mr Higgins said the idea was not an election stunt but condemned Government inaction on the issue saying the Minster for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, was showing an "extraordinary lack of sympathy" to people who had emigrated to Britain and have now fallen on hard times.
He said the Minister had cut funding to the Government's advisory committee on the Irish community in Britain and had failed to implement any of the recommendations of the working group of department officials and welfare groups in Britain that reported in 2002.
"We didn't bat an eyelid when the good people of Ireland were forced to take the boat to England without a penny or a future. They worked hard and in the true Irish spirit sent home the money which formed the cornerstone of our prosperity.
"Many of these people have fallen on hard times, but now that the time has come to acknowledge their efforts," he said.