Three referendums may have to be held in the State over the next 18 months to deal with the European Union reform treaty and the need to strengthen children's rights.
Further talks are to be held this week between the Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, the Minister of State for Children, Brendan Smith, and senior Opposition TDs.
However, it is increasingly likely that the Government may find it impossible to hold a "mini" children's rights referendum on the same day as the referendum necessary to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.
A "mini" children's rights referendum would deal only with barring adults from having sex with minors in all circumstances, although it may not be possible for the parties to agree on an age limit.
The wording of a change to the Constitution to deal with all other children's rights is unlikely to emerge from the Oireachtas committee set up to broker a consensus before the end of the year.
A referendum on this issue is now expected to be held alongside the 2009 local and European Parliament elections, sources with knowledge of the ongoing discussions indicated yesterday.
However, the Government will not be able to wait so long to tighten the rules on sex with minors, so a referendum on this issue will have to be held later this year if it cannot be held along with the EU poll.
The Government is hopeful that an agreement can be reached in the talks this week with Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter and Labour's Brendan Howlin so that a referendum outlawing sex with minors in all cases can be held quickly.
Last year Fine Gael adopted a more conservative approach than other parties by insisting that the age of consent should be set at 17 for both boys and girls, although this would mean that an under-17 boy who had sex with a girl of the same age could be charged with rape.
Despite an earlier belief to the contrary, the issue of a wording for the European reform treaty referendum is not to be discussed by the Cabinet at today's meeting.
Indeed, there were signals within government circles last night that a wording might not even be ready for next week's meeting - even though senior Ministers now believe that the EU poll must be held before the summer.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, will speak on the upcoming referendum and treaty when he addresses the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore, will address the National Forum on Europe this Thursday on his party's attitude to the treaty, on foot of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's speech there last week.
The forum, chaired by Senator Maurice Hayes, will begin its nationwide tour this evening with a public meeting in Blanchardstown public library at 6.30pm.
The forum will hold a meeting in Waterford City Hall at 7.30pm on February 11th, where pro-treaty and anti-treaty arguments will be heard, while meetings elsewhere will be held over the following month.
