The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, refused to say here whether his Cabinet colleague, Ms Sile de Valera, was articulating Government policy in Boston earlier this week when she criticised the EU.
Mr Cowen said the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had set out Government policy concerning Ireland and the development of the EU.
Asked if Ms de Valera was articulating Government policy in her speech, Mr Cowen replied: "I have not seen her speech in detail. I understand it was some comments made by Sile de Valera which were subsequently clarified by her in a radio interview thereafter."
Asked if it was not strange he as Minister for Foreign Affairs had not seen a speech by a fellow minister on an EU issue, Mr Cowen said: "There is nothing strange at all about it.
"The Taoiseach has clarified the situation. I have been engaged in detailed discussions at the UN and here in the White House in Washington. The position is not strange at all."
He said the Government's position in relation to the agenda for the summit in Nice next December had been "clearly set out by the Taoiseach".