Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the Irish people “will not be bribed by anybody” in relation to the fiscal compact.
Mr Kenny is expected to set out the reasons for the fiscal treaty referendum to his European counterparts at an EU summit in Brussels tonight.
The Taoiseach will sign the fiscal treaty along with 24 other leaders at a ceremony tomorrow but his signature is subject to Ireland’s ratification of the pact if the people vote in its favour.
The so-called “fiscal compact” was forged after British prime minister David Cameron dramatically vetoed a formal EU Treaty change last December. Britain has been joined by only the Czech Republic in refusing to be part of the accord on new economic constraints.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Kenny said the issue of the intergovernmental agreement on the fiscal compact was separate to the issue of the Anglo promissory notes and that the Irish people would not be bribed.
“That work is an entirely separate from the treaty," he said.
The two-day summit, where leaders are discussing the balance between budget austerity and reviving lost growth, is the first for two years in which the euro zone debt crisis did not eclipse all else.
But the plans for reviving growth threatened to escalate into a row after Mr Cameron bitterly complained that he was being ignored.
He formally raised objections in Brussels that his ideas for swift action on cutting red tape, boosting businesses and opening up the single market were not reflected in draft summit conclusions due to be approved tomorrow.
A dozen countries are signed up to the Plan for Growth in Europe, set out in a joint letter initiated by Mr Cameron and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and circulated to all member states 10 days ago.
The letter emphasises the need to match the economic crisis response with a plan to “lay the foundations for strong and lasting economic recovery”.
A rival Franco-German letter has also set out steps towards recovery, but EU officials denied there was any significant difference of view about the direction to take out of the crisis.
However, Mr Cameron pointed out forcefully at the summit table that some suggestions in the Franco-German letter explicitly appeared in the draft conclusions - but none of the plans set out in his 12-state document.
A UK government source described Mr Cameron as “frustrated”, adding: “We are slightly surprised that you can have 12 countries saying you should do something and it is ignored. This letter was written by 12 countries 10 days ago and yet the issues we raised are not reflected in the draft conclusions.”
The source went on: “We were asking for specific things and we have been largely ignored -even though these twelve countries account for more than half the EU population.
After Mr Cameron addressed the summit, his Dutch, Finnish and Italian counterparts also pitched in to make the same points, aiming their wrath at summit chairman Herman Van Rompuy, author of summit conclusions on the basis of input from the member states.
There have been rumblings at recent summits that Germany and France are calling the shots in Brussels, and that Mr Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister, favours their views when drawing up summit proposals.
Ironically, moments after the exchanges, EU leaders unanimously re-elected Mr Van Rompuy to serve another term as president of the European Council - effectively in charge of running summits. They had little choice - there was no other candidate.
The draft summit conclusions call for action to put the EU back on the “path to growth”.
They specifically call for issues in terms set out in the Franco-German letter - “fiscal consolidation as an essential condition of higher growth and employment; a broader tax base; and a target of raising the employment rate to 75 per cent on average across Europe by 2020”.
But ideas in the 12-nation letter backed by Mr Cameron figure nowhere. The letter says growth issues have already been discussed before at summit, adding: “Now is the time to show leadership and take bold decisions which will deliver the results that our people are demanding.”
It calls for the EU single market to be opened up further, and says the European Commission should set out “clear and detailed actions to improve implementation of the rules and strengthen enforcement, particularly in the financial services sector”.
After years of economic crisis meetings, and with a new multi-billion pound bailout deal just secured to tide Greece over, all leaders are keen to show they are now focused on moves to restore euro zone stability and credibility and revive the wider European economy.
A European Central Bank announcement last night of €500 billion in cheap loans to hundreds of banks further calmed markets and added to determination to demonstrate that the economic crisis might have turned a corner.
The summit should be over by the middle of tomorrow, with the high-point the formal signing of a new “fiscal compact” committing 25 of the 27 member states to tougher Brussels scrutiny of their economic plans.
Additional Reporting PA