Taoiseach's questions:Ireland will be the only country to hold a referendum on the new EU reform treaty if the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) of member-states accepts the treaty when it concludes in November.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny "it appears Ireland will be the only country to hold a referendum on this issue".
Mr Kenny had asked if Ireland was likely to be the only state to hold a referendum.
The Fine Gael leader said if Ireland was the only country to have a plebiscite "this will result in a great deal of international activity here, probably on the anti-side".
He called on Mr Ahern to "confirm that he will ensure that the Forum on Europe is properly resourced and that the Irish Government will conduct a real campaign in this regard".
Mr Ahern said all other countries "will deal with the matter by way of parliamentary ratification".
He said the IGC "appears at this stage to be on target to finish its work, if not by the end of October then by the end of November".
He said: "We will have to make a decision in due course on how we will ratify the reform treaty. It is reasonable to assume we will need to hold a referendum next year."
He also said he hoped the parties could work to agree on the referendum to protect the rights of children.
Minister of State for Children Brendan Smyth hoped to re-establish the committee that was dealing with the issue in an effort to get agreement, which was "always better in the case of referendums".
