The Taoiseach indicated that there is to be an examination of the McKenna Supreme Court judgment, which declared it unconstitutional for a government to spend public money advocating a particular result in a referendum. Mr Ahern was answering questions about the widespread confusion among voters in the recent referendum on cabinet confidentiality. "In so far as the ability of a government . . . following the Supreme Court decision that it cannot sell or explain a referendum more fully, I think that is a matter we should look at," he said.

There seemed to be a case that they should look at another way of being able to put forward the cases for and against in a referendum so that they were explained in a more thorough way. "That is what the people appear to have said," he added.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said the implication of the Taoiseach's remark was that the Government would need to introduce legislation governing the provision of information in referendums and have it tested for its constitutionality so that it came into effect in advance of the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty.

There was a risk, said Mr Bruton, that that referendum might not go the way most of the House wished because of an information deficit.

Mr Bruton said there was a serious obligation on political parties in the House not just to publish articles in The Irish Times - "and we are grateful to The Irish Times for allowing us to do so" - but to inform voters in their constituencies about the implications of a referendum proposal.

Mr Ruairi Quinn, Labour's acting leader, asked Mr Ahern to clarify "quite explicitly" his response that the Government was actively considering bringing forward legislation which would enable the government of the day, with perhaps a two-thirds majority in both Houses, to vigorously propose by way of an information campaign a referendum to the public.

Mr Ahern said that it was still only 10 days since the referendum so the Government had no "hard" memorandum so far. "But we are certainly looking at the situation where if you believe passionately in something, and you want to pass something, and there are extreme limits on what you can to sell that, then there is a problem . . .

"In terms of whether you do it legislatively, or whether there is some other way, that is a matter we are beginning to discuss and there are no conclusions on it."

Earlier, Mr Ahern said that there was cross-party agreement in the House to look again at the referendum on cabinet confidentiality to see if it was too limited. He wanted to repeat, he added, that he was very happy to do that.

Ms Liz McManus (DL, Wicklow) said the public was bewildered and confused by the lack of information in that referendum. The information provided was "unreadable," she added. "I have not met anybody who could follow what the amendment was about from reading those advertisements," she said.

She added that if the Taoiseach did not revisit the issue, and present another amendment to the people, he was feeding the cynicism relating to politics.