Comments about abortion in the EU by the Labour Party MEP, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, and the former Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, at an Oireachtas committee spilled over into an argument which continued in the media last night.
Mr De Rossa, in a statement after the Joint Committee on European Affairs yesterday, said he was shocked at Mr Bruton's "misinformed views" on abortion in the EU.
When Mr Bruton spoke about the EU legislation on sexual and reproductive rights in developing countries, he had incorrectly claimed that the EU was promoting abortion.
Mr De Rossa said: "I am appalled that John Bruton chose to misrepresent what Europe is doing in this area. Were this campaign of falsehoods to succeed, the only effect, as EU Development Commissioner Poul Nielson has repeatedly warned, would be to condemn 'the poor to poverty and destitution for many generations'."
In a press statement responding to Mr De Rossa, Mr Bruton said he had not said that the EU would support abortion politics as a means of limiting population growth. Nor did he ever claim that the EU was anything but strongly opposed to "forced abortions".
"On the other hand, I did say that EU funds could and would be used to pay for abortions," he said. Mr Bruton said he had explained this distinction in a letter sent to Mr De Rossa.
He said the European Parliament had said the regulation in question was about providing women in developing countries with access to the most basic services and also, where it was legal, to include in these services the choice of a safe abortion.
Mr Bruton said he presumed this provision of access included EU funding but he did not believe financial support was consistent with the EU Constitution.