The two parties in Government were divided last night on whether they should proceed with the abortion referendum.
The legislation completed all stages in the Oireachtas yesterday, but differences emerged between the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Tβnaiste, Ms Harney, on their commitment to hold the referendum in the run-up to the general election, which is likely to be held in May.
When asked yesterday if there would be a referendum before the election, Mr Ahern said: "Yes". He was also asked if the Government planned to go ahead with it in February, a date he had previously given. "We haven't yet made a decision on that but somewhere around then," he replied.
Ms Harney, when asked if it would take place before the election, replied: "The date hasn't been agreed.
"The Taoiseach has already indicated that after Christmas we will discuss the date for the holding of a referendum. What's going to be discussed is when that referendum will take place. When is the most appropriate time to put the proposal that is now gone through the Oireachtas."
Last week, the PD leader in the Seanad, Mr John Dardis, said the holding of an abortion referendum would be unwise.
Ms Harney said in the Dβil in October the Government had not decided when the referendum would take place. However, Mr Ahern had said the week previous to that it was likely to be held before the end of February.
At that time Ms Harney's spokesman, when asked if there would be a referendum before the election, said: "I presume there will be, it's contingent on the Bill going through the House."
Mr Ahern also said yesterday there had been a "very lengthy debate in the Oireachtas, far longer than any of the debates over the last 25 years on constitutional issues. So now I think it will go out to the people in due course, so hopefully we can have a calm debate on it and the people can vote on it."
Meanwhile, Fine Gael will be asked by its leader, Mr Noonan, to make a decision to oppose the referendum in January. Mr Noonan has said if it goes ahead, he will ask the party to oppose it because it was "far too big a risk to be putting into the Constitution without knowing, with any degree of certainty, what a future Supreme Court may decide".
He realised there was a very big majority in his party who wished to oppose the referendum but there were also people who wouldn't be too happy about actively opposing it. "So I won't be too insistent, you know, if a TD is reluctant to get involved. I won't be insisting that they are out knocking on doors, because it's a sensitive issue and a conscientious issue, but you can take it that the vast majority of the Fine Gael party will be into the campaign."
Fine Gael join the Labour Party, the Green Party and Sinn FΘin in opposing the referendum.
Mr Noonan said in an interview on Radio Kerry that no matter what was changed "you know people will get a Ryanair flight and the real issue is the incidence of abortion, which is quite high if we accept the statistics of the British abortion clinics".
The Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Bill 2001 passed final stages in the Seanad yesterday afternoon.