European Union industry ministers have failed to agree on guidelines for EU funding of research on stem cells drawn from human embryos.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said that the EU was now in a "very unsatisfactory position" where the Commission would be obliged to fund such research once a moratorium ends on December 31st. She added that there was no hope of her being being able to resolve the disagreement during Ireland's EU presidency next year.
"We have the legal opinion which says that the Commission will be obliged to implement the programme which provides for funding in this area. So we're in a very unsatisfactory situation where research can be funded if countries make applications.
"Obviously, the Commission would have to have a call for proposals and they would have to be approved. But assuming that will happen, we are in a very unsatisfactory position that it would happen without guidelines and safeguards," she said.
The ministers' failure to agree guidelines means that the Commission can call for proposals for research projects on embryonic stem cells. The Research Commissioner, Mr Philippe Busquin, said that the Commission will assess each application on a case by case basis.
Britain made clear last month that it will demand that the Commission calls for proposals once the moratorium on funding such research ends. Any decision to fund research projects would be referred to a regulatory committee of officials from the member-states. If the committee blocks a proposal for funding, it is referred to the Council of Ministers, where a qualified majority would be required to stop it.
Ms Harney said that she will not return to the issue during Ireland's EU presidency, which begins on January 1st, because there is little hope of finding agreement. "There is no point in me holding out hope that I can resolve it. I don't see any possibility of that happening. Every single possibility and option has been looked at during the last 18 months and particularly in the last couple of weeks. It was clear today that there was no possibility of anything being carried," she said.
Yesterday's talks in Brussels ended after it became clear that neither the Commission's original proposal for guidelines nor a more restrictive proposal backed by the Italian Presidency were capable of securing a qualified majority.
"Some people thought it was too restrictive, others that it was too liberal. There were objections from both perspectives and even efforts to have a mid-way position failed," Ms Harney said.
The Tánaiste said that the legal position in Ireland was unclear and that, although the Government would not fund embryonic stem cell research, it was theoretically possible that a private company could seek EU funding for research using imported embryonic stem cells.
Sixteen members of Youth Defence travelled from Ireland to Brussels to protest outside the meeting. They carried posters which said "Mary Harney does not speak for Ireland". Their spokesman, Mr Eoin de Faoite, said that the collapse of yesterday's talks should signal to the Commission that it should not release funds for embryonic stem-cell research.
"Hopefully, since it was rejected today, they will not release the funding and they won't use EU taxpayers' money to fund destructive embryo research. Hopefully, it's an indication to Europe that this is not the direction in which we want to go," he said.