THE GOVERNMENT was accused of scaremongering after Minister for Finance Michael Noonan warned that a referendum on tougher rules for euro zone countries would inevitably turn into a vote on whether Ireland should remain in the euro.
Mr Noonan, speaking after a visit to London, told The Irish Timeshe would prefer if a referendum were not necessary as it would be seen by the world as a vote on whether the Irish want to stay part of the single currency.
Fianna Fáil said Mr Noonan was being alarmist and accused him of trying to silence criticism and browbeat people who were concerned about last week’s EU deal.
Mr Noonan said Ireland did not have a problem with the new governance regulations for the euro zone and a fiscal control Bill which had already been drafted went further than required in certain respects.
“So my personal wish is that it can be done without constitutional change. But if constitutional change is required [then] we will have a referendum and we will put the case to the people and it will come down to whether one wants to continue in the euro, or not.
“Because in the nature of referendums, the issue itself might be complex, about new governance rules for the euro, [but] in the practical politics it will be dealt with in shorthand and the shorthand will be, ‘Do you want to maintain Ireland’s position as a euro zone country’. ”
The Minister said it was too early to say, without seeing the draft treaty, whether it would have to be put to the people.
“I am not even convinced yet that there will have to be a referendum. We haven’t seen drafts yet. One theory is there won’t be a referendum because there won’t be one required. But what I am saying is that, in practical politics, if there is a referendum the wider issue of Ireland’s future in the euro zone will become an issue, even though the actual question that will be put to the people will be about the governance rules for the euro.”
Asked if his comments could be seen as a threat, he said he had not raised it, but had responded to a question during a Bloomberg newswire interview. During that interview he expressed confidence in the future of the euro. “If you look at the history of the currency when it was put in place 12 years ago it has gone up in value, it has increased inter-European trade by 50 per cent. It has been a better antidote to inflation than the German mark because inflation has stayed below 2 per cent for each of the 12 years.”
Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath accused him of irresponsible scaremongering.
“Michael Noonan’s extraordinary intervention on the question of whether or not there should be a referendum on the new proposed intergovernmental agreement is an insult to Irish people’s intelligence,” he said.
He said Mr Noonan’s assessment was not based on any sound legal analysis but was a highly political and deliberate attempt to silence legitimate criticism and browbeat those who strongly supported euro membership but had genuine concerns about the deal agreed last week.
“The fact that the Minister’s language mirrors almost exactly the proposition used by France and Germany to scupper recent plans for a referendum in Greece will not be lost on people,” said Mr McGrath.
He added his party leader had said the problem with the deal was that it would actually undermine the euro project by trying to solve the wrong problem while abandoning the principles that made Europe strong.
“To try now to silence legitimate debate and position the referendum question as a Yes or No on euro membership is a perverse and unacceptable distortion of the facts. It is the same approach that the Government tried on the Oireachtas Inquiries referendum and will meet with a similar response,” said Mr McGrath.
