The Government accepts that regionalisation will not guarantee increased EU funding for Ireland, and has never suggested otherwise, a spokesman for the Taoiseach said last night.
Responding to a claim by Democratic Left that Mr Ahern had not reflected the views conveyed to him by the EU Regional Commissioner when he answered questions in the Dail last month, the spokesman said the Taoiseach had never said the prospect of increased overall funding was the only reason for the two-regions policy.
The spokesman added that the Commissioner, Ms Monika WulfMathies, while saying that Objective 1 status in the next round did not guarantee "Objective 1 in Transition" status after 2006, had also said that without Objective 1 status in the next round there was no chance of transitional status thereafter.
The Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said yesterday he would be asking the Taoiseach why he did not pass on to the Dail the views of the Commissioner when answering questions on October 20th.
"Not only did the Taoiseach not convey the Commissioner's views, but he persisted with the line that the country would be a net beneficiary of the two-regions policy and that there would be additional expenditure," he said.
Mr De Rossa added that RTE's "disclosure" that Ms WulfMathies had said there were no such guarantees "simply reinforces the view I have formed that the Government does not want an open and informed debate on this issue and that it is withholding key information from the public".
He said he had asked the Department of Finance, under the Freedom of Information Act, for copies of records concerning the relative advantage or disadvantage of the two-regions strategy.
"The Department listed 10 documents or papers that had been produced on this issue, but my application was refused on the grounds that `disclosure would be contrary to the public interest' and would also `risk adversely the international relations of the State insofar as the EU is concerned' ".
Meanwhile the Taoiseach's spokesman added that, in discussing the problems that would arise if there were different funding levels on either side of the Border, Mr Ahern had been supportive of Objective 1 status for Northern Ireland.
