The controversial legislation banning opinion polls in the final week of an election campaign will be debated for the first time in the Oireachtas today.
Government sources are insisting there will be no climbdown on the issue and said the Coalition would use its majority to have the Electoral Bill approved in the Seanad.
In a move designed to embarrass the Government further, independent senators have tabled a number of amendments to the Electoral (Reform) Bill 2000. Senator Joe O'Toole said they had tabled six amendments.
They wanted to take "every opportunity to indicate that this Bill has been rushed, that the content is Constitutionally questionable and it is completely unnecessary", he explained.
The leader of the Fine Gael group in the Seanad, Mr Maurice Manning, said his party wants the Bill returned to Committee stage for further debate to allow input from interested parties, including the media.
While Fine Gael initially supported - indeed proposed - the banning of opinion polls in the final days of campaigns, Mr Manning said his party would oppose it today, as it had done in the Dail.
"We expected we would be given an opportunity to debate it. What the Government is proposing is infinitely more draconian that what we advised, and the Government also appear to be going against the advice of the Attorney General on this matter," he said.
The leader of the Labour group in the Seanad, Mr Joe Costello, said yesterday the Bill was "deeply flawed" and there were a number of grounds for the Government to withdraw it.
Meanwhile, the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said yesterday she did not feel that it was either "unreasonable or undemocratic" to ban opinion polls for a week before the end of an election campaign.
Ms Harney said she felt opinion polls can influence voting behaviour and the results can "take on a life of their own and have a bandwagon effect".