MINISTER FOR European Affairs Dick Roche has said the Government is unlikely to be able to ratify the Lisbon Treaty before the European Parliament elections next June.
He also dismissed mounting speculation that the Government is planning to hold a second referendum on Lisbon in October or November 2009 as "premature".
"It doesn't seem to me that it can be done before March," said Mr Roche when asked whether a solution to Ireland's "Lisbon dilemma" could be found in time for the poll.
Speaking to The Irish Timesafter meeting French Europe minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet in Paris, Mr Roche said the Government was not going to be rushed into making a decision.
"We haven't even finished the analysis of the Millward Brown IMS survey . . . it will take time to solve the Lisbon issue," he said.
Mr Roche's comments reflect a growing realisation around Europe that the European elections will have to be held under the rules of the Nice Treaty. Under the Nice formula the number of MEPs will fall from 784 to 736, while the Lisbon Treaty would have allowed member states to elect 751 MEPs to the parliament.
Legal experts say Ireland would have to ratify Lisbon by March to allow time for EU states to implement the new constituency boundaries in the treaty.
This week, Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Junker became the first EU leader to publicly acknowledge that Lisbon would not enter into force before the European elections.
Berlin and Paris are now pinning their hopes on the Government being able to solve Europe's "Lisbon dilemma" in autumn 2009 before a British election in mid- 2010.
They fear a Conservative victory would kill the treaty, as Tory leader David Cameron has pledged to hold a referendum on Lisbon if the Irish have not ratified it.
But Mr Roche yesterday dismissed mounting speculation in Europe that the Government was preparing to hold a second referendum on Lisbon in autumn next year.
"We are not speculating on a second referendum . . . It is too early to say if there will be a referendum, or when it would be."