The Nice Treaty was described as "fair and balanced, good for Ireland and good for Europe" by the Minister for Public Enterprise yesterday.
"It is also possible to say," Ms O'Rourke added, "that while the changes agreed are, in the overall scale of things, relatively minor, they do open the way for sharing the benefits and opportunities of membership with the applicant countries, a matter of huge significance".
The treaty would also bring about a legal basis for the social protection committee, which promoted co-operation on social policies between member-states.
"In fulfilling its mandate, the committee will establish appropriate contacts with management and labour. This new article was included in the treaty following a proposal from Ireland." The Minister, speaking at a Fianna Fail meeting in Athlone, said that over the decade to 1999, the European social fund had helped to ensure that Ireland had the quantity and quality of trained and educated people to meet the strong growth needs of the economy. Each year, between 1994 and 1999, an average of more than 250,000 Irish students, teachers, trainees, apprentices and unemployed people had benefited directly from the support of courses provided by the fund.
The No to Nice Campaign, in a weekend statement, accused the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, of engaging in "an astonishing rant" when launching the Fianna Fail Yes campaign. This, the statement added, had included the accusation that opponents of the treaty were allies of right-wing Euro-sceptics.
"It is, of course, entirely consistent with the Government's refusal to deal with the real issues involved in the referendum debate that Mr Ahern should make such a baseless comment.
"British Tories are far from being the only people concerned with the direction the EU is taking with the Nice Treaty. Throughout Europe, citizens' organisations have been formed to express this deep unease and their members are of every political persuasion.
"The No to Nice Campaign in Ireland is one such group. We have no ideological hang-ups whatsoever. Unfortunately, the Irish people are the only people in the EU who will have the opportunity to vote on the treaty, which should of itself be a cause for concern."
