Fianna Fáil has been urged by its Green Party coalition partners to avoid "unpleasant and unhelpful political name-calling" in the debate on the Lisbon Treaty.
Green Party spokeswoman on European Affairs, Senator Deirdre de Búrca, who supports the treaty, was criticising remarks by Minister of State for European Affairs, Dick Roche.
Speaking at a conference in Dublin last week, Mr Roche categorised opponents of the Treaty as "Eurosceptics, some from very shadowy backgrounds, some from the extremes of the left or the right in European politics, few who have been elected and fewer still who have made any positive contribution to the sum total of human welfare".
Senator de Búrca, who ran for the Dáil last May in the same constituency of Wicklow as Mr Roche, said at the weekend: "It is important that those of us participating in the public debate try to avoid some of the unpleasant and unhelpful political 'name-calling' that has characterised previous EU treaty debates.
"I don't believe that the interests of the public for clear and accurate information are best served by listening to Yes and No campaigners slug it out in increasingly-rancorous debates, where the main objective appears to be to discredit the motives of the other side. If there weren't parties willing to argue both for and against the treaty, there would be no public debate and what would replace it could legitimately be called propaganda."
She continued: "Public support should not be assumed, but rather secured by sound political persuasion. Is it too much to hope for that the public debate on the Lisbon Treaty that will take place in this country over the next few months might be characterised by accurate information, balance, clear political arguments and skilful political debate?"
Meanwhile, the Progressive Democrats decided at the weekend to campaign for a Yes vote. Acting leader and Minister for Health Mary Harney said: "I can't think of one organisation or political body where the naysayer and the dog in the manger earns respect or actually gets things done. In the EU, as in every organisation, influence comes from being a team player."
Highlighting a key issue in the debate, Fianna Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan said a proposal in favour of common harmonised corporate taxes "is not even included in the European Commission policy priorities for the year 2009".
