The European Commission's decision to reprimand the Government over its economic policies will be debated tomorrow in the European Parliament.
The move follows the tabling of a question by a number of MEPs, including Fine Gael's Ms Avril Doyle, to ask the Commission to give more detail on the reason it considers Ireland's economic policy decisions infringe the rules.
Following Monday's decision to reprimand the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, MEPs in Irish opposition parties have rounded on the Government for what they described as reckless behaviour in defying the EU over economic policies.
The Dublin Labour MEP, Mr Prionsias De Rossa, said the Government was solely to blame through its reckless behaviour for the fact that Ireland was the first country to be formally censured for its economic policies by the EU.
In June 2000, for the third year running, the Taoiseach and Mr McCreevy signed up with the EU partners to broad economic policy guidelines. In the December budget, however, for the third year running, the Government deliberately disregarded the guidelines.
"The Government is being reprimanded because our European partners now see for the first time ever that when it makes a promise, in this case, to stick by agreed `broad economic guidelines', its word means nothing," Mr De Rossa said.
Ireland had benefited enormously from its EU membership over the past 27 years. Now that Ireland was among the wealthier member-states it could continue to benefit but its obligations to partners and, more importantly, to the new applicants, were increasing.
"The Government has handled this issue appallingly since the Commission first requested corrective action by this Government three years ago," Mr De Rossa said.
A Fine Gael MEP, Mr Joe McCartin, commented: "Mr McCreevy has succeeded in creating a major national embarrassment for Ireland out of an issue that could have been dealt with through quiet diplomacy."
The issue would never have attracted such damaging international attention if Mr McCreevy and the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, had not reacted to the Commission's polite warning as if it was a declaration of war, Mr McCartin said.
Mr John Cushnahan, Fine Gael MEP, said it would be a mistake to see this whole exercise as another maverick act on the part of Mr McCreevy. "It was a calculated act of cynical political opportunism designed to broaden Fianna Fail's electorial appeal to include latent euro-scepticism in Ireland," he said.
In taking this risk, the Government was betraying the national interest in two ways. First, by arrogantly ignoring an agreed policy Ireland would forfeit the legacy of goodwill built up in Brussels over many years. Second, Ireland was playing into the hands of British euro-sceptics opposed to joining a single currency.