The only way to prevent the planned ?900 million cut to existing services revealed this weekend was to oppose the Nice Treaty, the Tipperary South Independent TD, Mr Seamus Healy, said this evening.
He again encouraged the electorate to punish the Government for misleading them on the state of the State's finances prior to the general election.
Speaking at a Forum on Europe meeting in Thurles, he said: "The Nice Treaty comes down to a question of trust in the Government. Can the electorate trust the Government, which so dishonestly misled them in the recent general election, a Government that is fundamentally dishonest and arrogant?
"Can that Government be trusted on the issue of the Nice Treaty? My answer is No," he said.
The vote on the Nice Treaty on October 19th was the "last opportunity" for people to vote against planned Government cuts before they are made.
"The revelation of planed huge cuts in existing levels of services in Sunday newspapers has vindicated my decision to place the cuts at the center of the campaign against the Nice Treaty," he said.