The Government did not have faith in its own negotiations on the EU constitution agreed during Ireland's presidency in 2004, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny claimed, as he criticised the "opt-out" decision in the area of justice and home affairs in the new EU reform treaty.
The reform treaty replaces the EU constitution, which was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands, and is expected to be agreed by EU leaders at the weekend.
Ireland is the only EU member state likely to hold a referendum on the treaty and Mr Kenny sharply criticised the Government for failing to consult the opposition on the opt-out, especially when it needed Opposition support in the referendum next year.
During a three-hour Dáil debate on the reform treaty, Mr Kenny said the Government was "fundamentally wrong not to stand by its belief that Ireland, a small country with an important part to play in Europe, would have been able to stand on it own in this regard".
The Government "cannot tell us the circumstances which would justify our opting out" but "many people think that the Department of Justice has put pressure on members of the Cabinet".
The Government "should not have allowed itself to be tagged onto the tail of a Eurosceptic government by retaining the option of opting in or out on the basis of nebulous unforeseen circumstances", he said.
But the only Green party speaker in the debate CiaráCuffe (Dún Laoghaire) rejected Mr Kenny's assertion and said the decision to opt out was a "very strongly felt" one. It was "a difference between Napoleonic law and common law".
The Greens were repeatedly criticised during the debate and Labour's Joe Costello (Dublin Central) claimed they had completed the "ultimate U-turn from Eurosceptic to Europhile". Mr Cuffe said Mr Costello "accused us of 50 years of opposition to Europe which I find a bit rich since we've only been in existence for 25 years". He said his party backed the treaty in principle, subject to seeing the final draft.
He had was gravely concerned about the clause in the potential treaty about progressively improving "military capabilities" and where it might lead, but he said that "disagreement is allowed".
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who introduced the debate, said there were "significant differences" between the constitutional treaty and the reform treaty in the area of justice and home affairs, and Britain's opt-out changed the situation for Ireland.
"The British opt-out under the reform treaty . . . meant that future EU measures in the criminal law could create problems for us."
Sinn Féin is the only party to oppose the treaty and its security spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh was "deeply concerned for the ongoing erosion of Irish neutrality and the militarisation of our foreign and defence policies via previous treaties".
