The Tánaiste has said the Government believes every political party in the State wants to rectify "the loophole" on the right to citizenship, which is the subject of the controversial referendum set for June 11th.
Ms Harney, speaking on RTÉ Radio One's Morning Irelandprogramme, also denied Opposition claims that the other parties had not been consulted about the referendum prior to the Government's announcement on it.
The Tánaiste said other parties agreed it was never intended that as a result of the Belfast Agreement people with no connection with this State should be able to claim Irish citizenship and EU residency.
She said the Government's intention in holding the referendum was to amend the constitution to give the Oireachtas the power to legislate citizenship law. The so-called loophole, the result of changes made to the Constitution in the Belfast Agreement, means the Irish-born children of non-Irish nationals may claim citizenship here.
The changes were designed to allow residents of Northern Ireland claim Irish citizenship or to hold dual Irish and British citizenship where they wished to do so.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, has said his party wasn't properly consulted about the changes.
Speaking at the party's conference last weekend, he also accused the Government of exploiting immigration to "shore up" Fianna Fáil's vote in the forthcoming elections.
Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Green Party will jointly propose a motion in the Dáil this week urging that the proposed changes to the citizenship laws be passed to the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution.