The Government expects to get formal guarantees from the EU over voter concerns with the Lisbon Treaty by June ahead of an expected second referendum on the treaty, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has said.
Mr Martin did not say when a possible second refendum would be held but said "there is significant work still to be done in terms of working out the detail of the texts and so forth."
"In terms of guarantees, we would want to have conclusions and the situation sorted out by about June," Mr Martin said on RTE Radio today.
A draft EU document on the assurances had suggested a second referendum would be held by the end of October 2009.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said yesterday he was prepared to hold a second referendum on the treaty on the basis of concessions secured from EU counterparts at a summit in Brussels this week, adding he was confident those pledges would sway opinion towards a "Yes" vote next time round.
The concessions included the retention of a permanent commissioner as well as in sensitive areas of military neutrality, taxation policy and workers' rights to try to have the treaty ratified by all 27 member states by January 1st, 2010.
Mr Cowen said he was very pleased at the outcome. "The change in the commission arrangements so that Ireland keeps its commissioner is hugely significant," he said.
Undertakings given by Ireland's EU partners to address the concerns of the Irish people meant they were well on the way to a new package.
"On the basis of the agreement today, and on condition of our being able to satisfactorily put guarantees in place, I have said I would be prepared to return to the public to put a new package and to seek their approval of it."
Mr Cowen stressed there was a lot of detailed work to be carried out in the preparation of the legal guarantees on neutrality, tax, family and ethical issues.
Additional reporting by Reuters