Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan said "eurosceptic" remarks made last night by the Attorney General Mr Michael McDowell had put him in "an untenable position".
As the "protector of the public interest" the Attorney General is required to advise the Government on how to proceed in light of the referendum outcome and not place himself in the eurosceptic camp, Mr Noonan said.The Fine Gael leader also accused the Taoiseach of a "lamentable lack of leadership" in Ireland and the EU.
This was highlighted not only by the Attorney General's speech yesterday but also the "GUBU-type move" of a Minister of State canvassing in favour of Nice and then announcing he had voted against it, he said.
Mr Noonan said he had to ask the Taoiseach if he had "any control at all or even any influence on those who sit around the Cabinet table?"
Speaking about Mr McDowell's comments on what he said was the absence of real democratic input into EU decision-making, Mr Noonan said the Government has dropped the practice of prompt, regular reports on EU developments to the Oireachtas.
"The last such report, covering the first half of 1999, appeared 16 months later in October 2000," he said.