TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny and Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar have denied the Government will indicate at the European summit at the end of the month whether Ireland is to hold a referendum on a new fiscal treaty.
Both rejected the possibility that such an assessment could be made prior to the final version of the treaty being agreed.
“Before we can decide whether or not a referendum is required, we actually have to have the text of an agreed treaty and we don’t have that yet,” Mr Varadkar said yesterday. “So it’s only when we have that, that we can seek the advice of the Attorney General and others as to whether a referendum is required,” he told RTÉ radio.
“But I think it’s important to bear in mind that we have had lots of referendums on lots of different issues in the past.”
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams raised the matter in the Dáil, following an RTÉ report that quoted EU diplomats to the effect that Mr Kenny would have to indicate to EU leaders within 12 days as to whether or not a referendum was needed.
Mr Kenny said the report was inaccurate: “As Taoiseach, I am not in a position to ask for formal legal advice from the Attorney General until the politicians and the political process at heads of government level have dealt with the draft that comes before them.
“Tomorrow, I expect a draft text will be concluded at the technical level. That text will go before the political process, that is, the heads of government, on the 30th of January. It is only when that process has been decided that I will be in a position to ask the Attorney General for formal legal advice,” Mr Kenny said.
