IRISH VOTERS have now realised that the decision to reject the Lisbon Treaty cannot be "sorted out overnight", Taoiseach Brian Cowen said last night.
He accepted the Government had made mistakes during the campaign.
During an interview on RTÉ's Late, Late Show, broadcast from the newly-opened Wexford Opera House, Mr Cowen focused strongly on the State's economic problems, emphasising that the budget next month would "send a signal" to the people that serious difficulties must be confronted and overcome.
On Lisbon, he said: "People made the decision. I would have to say if I was to run that again would I run it differently? The answer is yes.
"Would we try and make sure that the people got a full range of the issues were, yes. Was there an assumption that there was a basic understanding of what it was about? Of course there was.
"Was there a lot of misrepresentation and, in my opinion, dishonest assertions made? Yes, there was because people felt so strongly about it. But that decision was taken. It doesn't put us in a very good position.
"We are part of Europe. People are looking to Ireland to see where we go from here. We have seen the benefits of the EU here. Government now has to grapple with the outcome of that. The idea that you could hop, skip and jump over to Brussels and sort it out overnight, I think people are recognising that things are a bit more complicated than that."
On the economy, Mr Cowen said the Government would take firm action to deal with the current difficulties, and he expressed confidence that these could be overcome.
However, he hinted that the Government would not move to cut stamp duty on houses in a bid to restart sales of houses - but suggested it may be considering means by which it can create liquidity in the financial markets to let banks start giving out mortgages again.
"It doesn't do the Irish economy much justice to say that Ireland is a building site with a flagpole and a flag on it," he said.
"We are not going to tinker around with the market. There is a correction taking place in the residential housing market. The problem is that with houses becoming more affordable people can't get access to credit. That is the issue. It is really a question of trying to tackle that issue."
Next month's budget by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan was "about sending a signal to the country that we are in a new set of circumstances. There is no doubt about that."
However, he said he believed that Ireland and the Irish people have "the sophistication, capacity and resilience" to cope with the "downturn to come", adding later that "the events that shaped us in adversity are just as relevant in prosperous times as well."
Mr Cowen also said the National Development Plan would continue but spending would be focused on labour-intensive projects, such as school building where the Government could get better value for money from builders.
"What we have to do now in the new set of circumstances is reprioritise that programme towards those areas where we can get the best economic return."