The Government has been forced to change the wording of the Amsterdam Treaty referendum exactly a week after its publication.
The Coalition is to drop or amend the controversial clause in the referendum Bill which provides for the State to exercise "options or discretions" provided by the Amsterdam and other treaties. The section had been strongly criticised by Labour and Democratic Left as providing a "blank cheque" to implement radical measures without consulting the electorate.
The first clear signs of Government anxiety over the wording emerged after yesterday's Cabinet meeting when it was confirmed that the Bill to allow for the treaty's ratification had been withdrawn from today's Dail schedule.
A Government spokesman said later last night that the Coalition would now drop or amend the contentious clause in the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1998.
Following the Cabinet meeting, officials of the Taoiseach's Department, the Attorney General and the Department of Foreign Affairs immediately set about reviewing the referendum wording which was formally published last Tuesday. A spokesman subsequently said that there were two options, deletion of the controversial Section 6 clause or amendment of its wording.
However, he pointed out that if the clause were deleted, "the question arises as to whether or no you have a problem with implementing the Treaty". The Government has argued up to now that if the discretionary clause were dropped, it could lead to future challenges in the Supreme Court about the right of the State to sign agreements.
Fearful that public confusion could risk the referendum being defeated, the Government now faces the embarrassment of having to overhaul the wording to obtain Opposition support.
The Taoiseach told the House that the Government was "very anxious to have as much agreement as we can . . . We are endeavouring to reach agreement".
Confirming that his party had no objection to the deletion of the clause, Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, accused the Government of causing confusion among the public.
"I was told by officials that the wording was drafted by the Attorney General's office . . . He wanted to be sure. However, the Government has unnecessarily created a problem," Mr Mitchell said.
While his party could live with the deletion of the clause, it would also be happy with the current wording. The primary objective was to get the Amsterdam Treaty ratified.
A Democratic Left spokesman said the party's preference now was to delete altogether the clause relating to options and discretions.
"If the Government does not agree to that, it should be put to the people as two separate questions, one to ratify the treaty and the other dealing with the options," a spokesman said. Further consultation with the Opposition is expected today, and the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, requested a meeting of all the party leaders to discuss the matter with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern. The issue has already been discussed between the Taoiseach and the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, and Mr Ahern is due to meet the Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, today.
The Government hopes to have secured agreement on the referendum wording before it is retabled for debate in the Dail next week. No date has yet been set for voting on the referendum.
Meanwhile, the Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna accused the European Commission of "unauthorised interference" in the referendum by distributing material with a pro-treaty bias.
The Commission is distributing a book, Citizens' Guide to the Am- sterdam Treaty, which she says contends that the Amsterdam Treaty will make Europe more democratic, peaceful and prosperous. This, she claims, amounts to a contravention of the McKenna judgment.