Minister correct over Irish bank debt deal, says Quinn
A senior Labour Party Minister is denying reports of a rift between members of the party and its Deputy leader Joan Burton over linking the EU Treaty with negotiations on a better bank bailout deal.
Minister Joan Burton said a cut in the price of promissory notes would make it easier to pass the Treaty in Ireland.
But he Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Tánaiste, and Labour leader, Eamon Gilmore have moved to distance the two issues.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said his party colleague was correct, but he said the two issues are separate.
Mr Quinn said: "Of course that was a correct observation, but to say that one is conditional on the other is utterly misleading, and that is really the point that the Tánaiste was clarifying in his response to Shane Ross in the Dáil.
"Shane Ross attempted to say 'link the two together', and the Tánaiste clearly said no - both issues are separate.
"One is ongoing - that is the continuous negotiation - and the other is a specific campaign for a referendum."
