Labour's Pat Rabbitte today called on the Government to clarify the legal status of the economic bailout announced last night.
Mr Rabbitte said uncertainty about the status of the €85 billion agreement would give rise to challenges in the courts and lead to further instability.
“On the one hand, it seems clear that, rightly or wrongly, the Government does not regard a programme which has been agreed with the other EU member states as well as the IMF as an international treaty”, Mr Rabbitte said.
“If it was a treaty, then, under Article 29.5.2 of the Constitution, its terms would have to be approved by the Dáil. Yet the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have made it clear that they will not submit this programme to a Dáil vote."
Minister for Children Barry Andrews tonight insisted that the agreement meets all legal requirements.
"I want to assure people that the Loan Facility Agreements and the Memos of Understanding (MoUs) under the EU-IMF joint programme for Ireland are not an international agreement for the purposes of Article 29.5 and 29.6 of the Constitution,” he said.
Mr Andrews said a future Government would not be obliged to avail of any draw down.
"Accordingly, future executive action of a Government is not fettered nor is the legislative freedom of the Oireachtas. Furthermore, the Government is free to seek monies from a different source, including the market, if it does not wish to avail of the facility,” he said.
The EU-IMF bailout package for Ireland has been condemned by the Opposition parties, who may now all likely to vote against the budget on December 7th.
