MINISTER FOR Enterprise Richard Bruton was forced to admit causing confusion by the way he “dealt badly” with a question during a debate on the fiscal treaty yesterday.
During a debate on the treaty hosted by Today FM, Mr Bruton raised the prospect of a referendum rerun in the event of a No vote.
The faux pas happened when the Minister was asked by debate host Matt Cooper if the Government had a plan B in the event of a No vote and what it would say to its EU partners.
“I suppose we will have to say that we will need access to this fund and I think Ireland will be looking to say can we vote again, because we will need access to this fund,” Mr Bruton said.
Asked if he was suggesting a rerun in the event of a No vote, Mr Bruton said: “I’m saying that we will have a crisis on our hands and we will face a really, really difficult situation in funding ourselves. That’s the reality.”
Later in the debate Mr Bruton said there was “no question” of a second poll in the event of a No vote on May 31st. Mr Cooper put it to the Minister he had said the opposite earlier.
“I’m retracting what I said. There’s nothing wrong with being honest. Government has made it clear that there will be no second vote and I just want to clarify that. This is a debate. We can all make mistakes,” said Mr Bruton.
In a written statement last night Mr Bruton tried to clarify matters further and admitted: “In the heat of a debate, I dealt badly with a question, and may unnecessarily have caused some confusion.”
Later Fine Gael director of elections Simon Coveney said that “under no circumstances” would there be a second vote on the treaty.
Responding to queries afterwards in the wake of Mr Bruton’s interview about whether the people may be asked to vote a second time on the treaty, the Minister said it was important people got a categoric commitment from the Government that the treaty would be put to the people on one occasion only – on May 31st.
“Irish people need certainty and the sooner they get it the better . . . this is a decision that the Irish people will make on May 31st and that decision will be final,” said Mr Coveney.
Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said Mr Bruton’s initial comments were “an outrage and an affront to democracy”.
