The Government and the Referendum Commission are in direct conflict over the constitutional position of the morning-after pill, amid growing concern in the Coalition that the abortion referendum could be lost.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, yesterday swiftly contradicted on behalf of the Government the Referendum Commission's assertion that the constitutional position of the morning-after pill was open to doubt.
The commission's information booklet on the abortion referendum, published on its website on Tuesday, says this doubt will remain whether the Government's proposed constitutional amendment is carried or defeated.
However, in a statement yesterday, Mr Martin insisted: "The Government's legal advice is that the constitutional position of the morning-after pill is not open to doubt and that it is fully compatible with Article 40.3.3. of the Constitution." This contrasts with the Referendum Commission's assertion that "the present constitutional position of these devices is also open to doubt".
Adding to the confusion, the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, later claimed the Referendum Commission had actually backed the Government's position.
"If you read the entire document, the Referendum Commission is quite clear that this issue is as we say, that there is absolutely no constitutional problem in this respect," Mr Dermot Ahern told RTÉ's News at One programme.
The Taoiseach told the Dáil yesterday that its advice to the contrary came from the Attorney General. However the Government and the Referendum Commission agree that the position of the morning-after pill in criminal law, as opposed to the Constitution, is currently uncertain.
They also agree that the Government amendment, if carried, will ensure that using the morning-pill is as the Commission states, "not abortion in the criminal sense".
The effect of the proposed amendment on the legal position of the morning-after pill has been central to the Government's attempts to win approval for its proposal.
The Taoiseach and his ministers have insisted throughout the campaign the amendment, if carried, will clarify that the use of the morning-after pill in Ireland is legal.
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil deputies yesterday reported significant confusion among voters about the referendum. At a meeting of the parliamentary party yesterday in Leinster House, according to the chairman, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, TDs and senators reported that voters were confused about whether a Yes or No vote represented their view on the issue.
He maintained there were positive indications that the amendment would be passed from rural areas, but conceded this was not the case in some urban areas.
Other party sources said the outcome was "still to play for" and maintained Fianna Fáil members around the State were now canvassing for a Yes vote with more enthusiasm than they had displayed during the Nice Treaty referendum campaign.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, yesterday accused the Government of issuing a series of misleading statements regarding the status of the morning-after pill "in a desperate attempt to shore up support of its referendum campaign".
Socialist Party deputy Mr Joe Higgins and Councillor Clare Daly said that the Government was holding this referendum only to head off the possibility of anti-abortion candidates running in key constituencies in the general election.
"They hope it will ring-fence for themselves a small but crucial conservative section of the electorate which, in a tight electoral situation, will give them the advantage," they said in a statement.