The Taoiseach has suggested the Maastricht Protocol on Abortion may be amended after all, thus giving the Government's third position in five days on the question.
Mr Ahern also said the abortion referendum was likely to be held before the end of February. "It will be held early in the new year. . .it may be held in February but no later than that." He was less definitive later, saying February was "the earliest date" and that he hoped it would he held in that month.
Mr Ahern told the Dβil yesterday he had been advised that a change in the 1992 protocol was "probably not necessary". But he added that if it emerged that it was necessary, a change could be "just nodded through" at a European Council meeting.
Last Thursday the Government position was that it would seek an amendment to the protocol if the proposed constitutional amendment on abortion was passed.
However, the following day, after Labour leader Mr Ruair∅ Quinn claimed this could require ratification in all other member states, including a referendum in Denmark, the spokesman said the Government had been advised that no change was, in fact, necessary.
Now the Taoiseach has left open the possibility that a change will be necessary, but insisted it would be a routine procedure.
The Government negotiated the inclusion of a Protocol on abortion in the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 to ensure that the 1983 pro-life amendment could not be challenged by the European courts.
Mr Quinn said last week the two proposed new subsections would not be protected by this protocol and may therefore be open to legal challenge.
Mr Ahern told the Dβil yesterday his advice remained that no change was necessary. But he said he could imagine a situation where "someone" said the protocol had to be changed after all. If so, "this would not create a difficulty with member states because on a whole range of issues protocols are regularly nodded through at European Council level". Fine Gael is today expected to approve a document on abortion from its health spokesman Mr Gay Mitchell but will not adopt a position on the Government's proposed action.
The party's front bench yesterday approved the document, which details the history of the issue and the various unsuccessful attempts to deal with it. Mr Mitchell's paper is understood to point to possible legal and medical flaws in the Government's proposal. The party is awaiting a reply from the Taoiseach to 34 questions it submitted last week on the issue, and will not take a decision until it has the answers to these.