Varadkar: Referenda ‘not very democratic’

Referenda have been dismissed as “not very democratic” by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar — prompting opposition parties to brand him “ridiculous”.

Mr Varadkar was reacting to a poll showing almost three in four people want a vote on proposed EU fiscal union.

“I don’t think referendums are very democratic,” he said.

“By and large when we have a referendum on an issue, that referendum is never about what the referendum was supposed to be about.

“And I would be concerned it would turn into a referendum on extraneous issues like septic tanks, or the bondholders, or the banking crisis, or decisions being made by the Government like cutbacks, for example,” he said.

His stance was attacked as “ridiculous” by Sinn Féin, who said it proved the Government was scared of voters.

The row came as the Tánaiste denied Brussels planned a multi-billion-euro bid to try and “bribe” Irish voters into backing an EU referendum.

Eamon Gilmore insisted there was no link between the European Commission suddenly identifying €82bn worth of unspent regional structural funding that could be pumped into bailout economies such as Ireland and the prospect of a constitutional referendum on fiscal union.

“There is no magic fund. The Government has made it clear that the resolution of difficulties surrounding the euro could not be done by treaty measures alone. We need to create jobs and get economic growth,” he said.

“There will be discussions [at the EU summit] on how unspent structural funds might be used to encourage employment opportunities for young people,” Mr Gilmore told RTÉ.

Mr Varadkar also stated the Government was actively seeking to writedown or defer principle payments on promissory notes of €30.6bn owed to Anglo.

After the Government was criticised for paying €1,25bn to Anglo bondholders, Mr Varadkar said: “The big show is the principal, it is the €30bn, and what we want there is either to have it written down or postponed for a very, very long time.”

The Red C/ Sunday Business Post opinion poll showed support for fiscal union on a knife-edge, with a slight majority in favour. Some 40% say they back the proposed treaty, with 36% against and 24% undecided.