The Government now plans to rewrite its proposed wording for the EU treaty referendum to exclude a clause that would give the State power to sign up to a wide range of EU policy changes without referendum.
The clause, which was contained in the draft wording published in yesterday's Irish Times, would, if passed by referendum, have given the Government power to agree to many policy changes and the abolition of the national veto in many areas without consulting the people, so long as it had Oireachtas approval.
The Green Party and Sinn Féin condemned the proposal yesterday, saying it was undemocratic and would have given the Government a 'blank cheque' to make important decisions without the people's approval.
The Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said yesterday that the Taoiseach had agreed to remove this clause at a meeting with him last Monday.
He said that the original wording "contained an enabling provision that would lead to a situation where future changes in substantial areas of the policy elements of the European treaties and constitution, even if they were in conflict with a provision of our Constitution, could be adopted by a majority vote in the Houses of the Oireachtas, rather than by referendum".
He said this change, known is EU jargon as a passerelle provision, was not required by the European constitution and "would give rise to the perception, at least, that major changes to the European constitution could in future be made without any reference to the people".
In a note on the matter yesterday, the Government said it believed this provision was reasonable, and did not allow for any extension of the EU's competence or power. "However, the Government is sensitive to the political argument that the scope of the procedure might be exaggerated in a referendum campaign, and is now tending to the view that arrangements for ratification, even of such limited treaty change, should remain as at present - namely a decision would be taken on a case-by-case basis as to whether a referendum would be necessary."
The Government was "close to finalising the draft amendment to the Irish Constitution which it will propose to enable Ireland to ratify the European constitution. It has been consulting with Fine Gael and Labour".
The Greens and Sinn Féin yesterday criticised the fact that they had not been consulted.
The Government also said that the treaty referendum wording would maintain the prohibition on Ireland's participation in a common defence.
Mr Rabbitte said that at his meeting with Mr Ahern last Monday "he agreed with my suggestion . . . that the enabling provision concerning future treaty changes should be removed from the draft wording". He said Labour supported the EU constitution "and we were, and are, preparing to support a Yes vote in any referendum on the matter".
However, the wording initially proposed by the Government had given rise to a number of issues of considerable importance.
As a result of their discussions with the Taoiseach, he believed "the status quo would be maintained" in relation to future policy changes, apart from the issues specified in the EU constitutional treaty. "In other words, each future policy change at European level would be examined on a case-by-case basis to establish whether it had constitutional implications in Ireland, and therefore whether a referendum would be necessary."
Therefore, he believed, "any perception that all future changes could be made without reference to the people has been removed, and I have expressed my appreciation to the Taoiseach for that".
Earlier Sinn Féin's European Affairs spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh said that the Government's draft constitutional amendments "go further than ratifying the EU constitution and would rule out almost any future referral of fundamental matters of Irish sovereignty to the people". He criticised the Government's action in giving "private advance briefings to Fine Gael and Labour" on their proposals.