The Dáil debate on the proposed citizenship referendum took a surprise turn today when a Fianna Fáil backbencher questioned the speed with which the Government was conducting the debate.
Mr Barry Andrews, a TD for Dun Laoghaire, indicated he would be voting with the Government but questioned the decision to go to the people on June 11th when the number of refugee applications was falling.
"Everybody has known about this problem for quite a considerable length of time so the question has to be asked why there's an urgency now and why was it only announced before Easter," Mr Andrews said.
Labour Party spokesman on justice, Mr Joe Costello, seized on the comments saying: "the message was finally getting through ... to an emerging caucus amongst the Government backbenches".
Confusion over the evidence supporting the Government's contention that "citizenship tourism" was placing the State's maternity services under severe strain resurface again today with speakers bandying different figures around the chamber.
While Opposition TDs continued to question the motive and timing for the referendum, the Minister for Social and Community Affairs, Ms Coughlan, accused them of creating "a heated and politically-charged debate" for political advantage.
But one of the reasons the Minster for Justice, Mr McDowell gave for acting on the issue was undermined again today when a third maternity hospital head denied seeking the change.
The Master of Holles Street hospital Dr Declan Keane joined the masters of the Coombe and Rotunda hospitals in disputing Mr McDowell's claim that they had asked for a referendum to address the issue.
He told RTÉ radio this morning he believed that a high proportion of non-national women were presenting late in pregnancy at Irish hospitals for "citizenship reasons" but he denied asking for a referendum.
"In the correspondence that I had with the Minister and in the meetings I've had with his officials we have never asked for a referendum.
"We did point out the sheer number of these patients who were coming, we did point out the need for resources and we did point we felt that there was certainly a loophole here and a degree of exploitation but no, it would not have been our role to ask for a referendum."
Last month the masters of the Coombe and the Rotunda said they were being used as a "scapegoat" by Mr McDowell after he claimed the masters had "pleaded" for a change in the law and had not sought resources.
But Dr Seán Daly Master of the Coombe and Dr Michael Geary Master of the Rotunda issued a statement saying they had met with the Minister where three options, including a referendum, had been suggested. However, they did not express a view on the way forward but maintained they did ask for additional resources.
Documents issued yesterday indicate the masters had also sought tighter immigration controls.