The Taoiseach and the Tanaiste have moved to support Ms Sile de Valera in her call, in a speech delivered in Boston, for a debate on Ireland and its EU future.
While Ms de Valera came under strong Opposition attack yesterday for warning that, in her view, further European integration was not in Irish interests, Mr Ahern and Ms Harney welcomed the fact that her comments have prompted debate.
Mr Ahern spoke by telephone to Ms de Valera yesterday and expressed support for her views on the need for more debate.
It is understood Ms Harney spoke with an official travelling in the US with Ms de Valera and expressed her support for her views.
In an article in The Irish Times today Ms Harney signals her concern that Ireland will lose control over fiscal policy with increased centralisation. She warns that we must resist pressure from Brussels for tax harmonisation and avoid importing "job-destroying" policies from Europe.
"This is absolutely vital to our ability to promote entrepreneurship and job-creating investment in the Irish economy," she says.
Ms Harney says in her article that an enlarged Union will not work if all power is ceded to the centre and if member-states are deprived of their fiscal independence.
"I do not want to see a situation in Ireland where we have to import the kind of job-destroying policies which are keeping millions of people on the dole right across continental Europe."
The Tanaiste says while the major economies in continental Europe remained welded to an outmoded philosophy of high taxation which condemned millions to unemployment, Ireland had pursued a course which resulted in a huge drop in the number of people out of work.
She says she welcomes the fact that we are now having a proper debate in Ireland about the issue of further European integration.
Ms de Valera stressed yesterday that she was not against enlargement or integration but was not in favour of further centralisation.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, criticised Ms de Valera's speech on Europe. However, a spokesman for the Taoiseach said yesterday that Mr Ahern had issued a definitive position on Government policy on Europe in an address to the Institute of European Affairs in March.
"That position has not changed. At that time the Taoiseach attempted to generate debate on the issues and he was disappointed that such a debate did not transpire.
"The Taoiseach welcomes the fact that Minister de Valera appears to have succeeded in generating such a debate now."
The spokesman said Mr Ahern had no knowledge that Ms de Valera was going to make the speech in which she said directives and regulations agreed in Brussels often seriously impinged on our identity, culture and traditions.
In his speech in March, Mr Ahern signalled that Ireland would be strongly resisting any measures at the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference which would dilute our say in Brussels.
He said it was essential that Ireland retained a full Commissioner, adding that he could not envisage a situation whereby Ireland would forgo the right to nominate a Commissioner.