Only an election would delay poll

The EU referendum could only be postponed if the Government called a snap general election, the body overseeing the poll has insisted.

The Referendum Commission intervened following a flurry of queries, after a bloc of TDs and MEPs warned that uncertainty after the French presidential change-over meant that putting off the vote until the autumn was the best option.

The Government dismissed any such move out of hand, and the commission has clarified the position, stating the Referendum Act 1994 only allows for one reason for a postponement.

“If a general election is called, the minister may change the referendum date to the date of the proposed general election,” a spokesperson said.

One campaigner demanding a delay, Dublin North Central TD Finian McGrath, said he was “dismayed” the law did not allow such a move.

As the war of words between the yes and no camps intensified, Socialist TD Joe Higgins warned the fiscal compact treaty was a threat to democracy.

Mr Higgins said the agreement would remove freedom of choice from the electoral process because all future governments would be locked into the same austerity policies once they were enshrined in the constitution.

The party’s Dublin MEP Paul Murphy ridiculed the yes camp’s claim that the treaty would lead to growth. He said it could not happen at the same time as austerity as it would be like “putting your foot on the brake and accelerator” at the same time.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny accused the no side of being unable to say where the country would get jobs investment funding from if it turned its back on the fiscal compact. He dismissed claims from left-wing TDs that an extra €6bn worth of cuts would be needed to comply with the treaty.

The move came as Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore played down hopes a stimulus package could be agreed between the EU and French president François Hollande before the May 31 poll. He stressed next week’s EU summit was an informal one and major decisions would wait until a later June meeting.

Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín called for a three-year €13bn investment package focusing on infrastructure and new enterprises which would be paid for by the National Pension Reserve Fund and European Investment Bank funds.