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Shane Ross in the Dail Screengrab from Oireachtas website
Dáil

Shane Ross proposes bill to allow delay to referendum

Ross’s suggestion was dismissed by the Tánaiste who said that Ross couldn’t make up his own mind on how to vote on the Treaty.

INDEPENDENT TD SHANE Ross has proposed a new bill which would allow the government to postpone the date of the referendum if the turmoil in the eurozone continues.

Ross said that an opinion poll released today had found a large number of people confused about the referendum and wish it to be clarified.  Ross told the Dáil that the bill would not compel the government to change the date but offered them the option to do so if events necessitated it.

The Dublin South TD told the Dáil he had written a bill which would take one or two days to be passed by the Dáil or the Seanad.

However the suggestion was dismissed by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, who said the move was an “extreme measure” when Ross “can’t even make up his mind as to how to vote on the Treaty”.

The Tánaiste said the Referendum Commission had ruled that the date of the referendum can not be changed – and added that the date needed to stay the same for stability and certainty.

He told the Dáil that more information was available on the Treaty than for previous treaties.

Swingers: latest poll shows 35 per cent of referendum voters ‘don’t know’ >

Referendum roundup: 15 days to go >

Translated: The Fiscal Compact rewritten in layman’s terms >

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