The chairman of the task force which drew up the Hanly report has accused the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, of speaking with a forked tongue on issues surrounding the report.
Briefing local people on his report in Ennis, Co Clare, yesterday, Mr David Hanly said: "I am disappointed by the intervention of Minister Smith the other night in Nenagh.
"What I can't understand is a Cabinet Minister who has signed off on this report in Cabinet then says something different when he gets into a difficulty with some of his constituents.
"I can't understand how anyone can speak with a forked tongue in that way. But I have to say that is not for us. That is the Taoiseach's job to deal with that particular issue."
Thousands of people are expected to march in Ennis on Saturday in protest at the report's proposals. Mr Hanly said yesterday the marchers "are misinformed".
"I think that people don't understand all of the benefits that are going to come out of this for the people of this region and I think that to some degree they are being hijacked by politicians.
". . . It is the responsibility of the politicians to inform accurately and to tell the truth. It is also my view that the media should be informing people accurately and truthfully and telling the people the pluses and minuses of the report.
"Unfortunately, what has happened already is certain people, for their own reasons, have put spins on the report that are just not true."
Meanwhile, the Fianna Fáil constituency colleague of the Minister for Defence has admitted doing a U-turn on the Hanly report. The admission by Ms Maire Hoctor came after she told a public meeting in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, that she was wrong to accept its recommendations.