The Socialist Party MEP for Dublin, Joe Higgins, has claimed the Yes side in the upcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum is spending “obscene” amounts of money.
Mr Higgins said those advocating a Yes vote were depending on “fear tactics and bland assertions”, and were refusing to engage with the text of the treaty.
“The role of big business in this referendum has ensured that the relatively slim resources on the No side are absolutely dwarfed by the obscene amounts of money the Ryanairs and Intels are putting into the Yes side.
Mr Higgins also responded to a Brussels-based lobbyist’s e-mail to public relations firms.
The e-mail, from Eamonn Bates, said: “Personally, I do not think it was right to ask the Irish to vote again. However, now there is a rerun, I am convinced it would be wrong to allow a second No vote to occur”.
Mr Higgins said the statement was “breathtaking” and demonstrated “arrogance”.
Mr Bates had offered to help raise funds for Europe for Ireland, according to a spokesman for the organisation which was set up by Irish people working in Brussels seeking a Yes vote.
The spokesman said the organisation did not agree with his position that the treaty should not have been put to a second vote.