A total of £5.5 million has been allocated to the Referendum Commission to finance the impartial dissemination of information prior to four forthcoming referendums. They will be on the Treaty of Nice, the abolition of the death penalty, the regulation of judicial conduct and Irish participation in the proposed International Criminal Court.
No date has been set for the four referendums but the working assumption in political and official circles is that they will be held simultaneously on Thursday, June 7th.
Legislation to permit the holding of the votes is expected to clear both Houses of the Oireachtas by May 4th, following which the Minister for the Environment will announce the date, which must be at least 30 days after the legislation has been passed at Leinster House.
The Referendum Commission holds a planning meeting in Dublin this evening. It was set up on April 17th under the chairmanship of the former chief justice, Mr Thomas Finlay. The other members are the Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy; the Comptroller and Auditor-General, Mr John Purcell; the Clerk of the Dail, Mr Kieran Coughlan; and the Clerk of the Seanad, Ms Deirdre Lane.
Under the McKenna judgment of the Supreme Court on the conduct of referendums, the function of the commission is to provide information to the public on the pros and cons in each case. After the date for the polls has been set, the commission will seek submissions from the public.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has allocated £2.5 million for the commission's work in relation to the vote on the Treaty of Nice and £1 million for the vote on the International Criminal Court; the Department of Justice has provided £1 million each for the polls on the regulation of judicial conduct and the abolition of the death penalty, making a total of £5.5 million.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs has dismissed a claim that Ireland influenced Denmark to back a non-NATO candidate as head of the European Union military committee, which will advise on the development of the EU's Rapid Reaction Force.
Gen Gustav Hagglund from Finland was nominated to chair the committee by defence chiefs from the 15 EU member-states, including Ireland's Chief-ofStaff of the Defence Forces, Lieut-Gen Colm Mangan.
A Defence Forces spokesman said there had been "a private, internal process to arrive at a consensus" on the nomination. In addition to the Chief of Staff, Ireland is also represented on the committee by Brig-Gen Frank McKevitt.
It was claimed by opponents of the Treaty of Nice that Ireland lobbied Denmark to support a chairman from neutral Finland rather than the Italian candidate, Gen Mario Arpino, on the basis that this would make it easier to secure a Yes vote in the forthcoming referendum here.
However, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "Ireland fully supported Gen Hagglund because of his sterling record in United Nations peacekeeping; he is well known to the Irish defence forces from his days as force commander with the UN in Lebanon. His candidacy stands on its merits."
In a separate development, the Green Party MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, has accused the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, of "smear tactics" because of his suggestion that opponents of the Nice Treaty were willing to accept funding from Tory Euro sceptics "who certainly have no love of Ireland".
"Such cheap smear campaign tactics display a lack of confidence on Mr Ahern's part to defend his position on the Nice Treaty. It is clear that he is unable to deal with the substance of the debate and has instead reverted to the age-old practice of smearing the opposition," Ms McKenna said.