Business leaders fear the referendum on the Nice Treaty may be lost because of a lack of urgency by the political parties backing it.

IBEC yesterday criticised plans to complete the passage of the necessary Bill in the Dail in one session today. "A real debate spread over time would have afforded the vast majority of TDs who support this referendum parliamentary time to make the case for a `yes' vote," a spokesman for the business lobby said.

It warned that opponents of the treaty, underpinning the enlargement of the European Union to the east, were already organised.