Senior Irish government figures have discussed the possibility of the president asking the supreme court to rule on whether Europe's plans for fiscal union would require a referendum, the Sunday Business Post reported.
Irish citizens are entitled to vote on any major transfer of powers to Brussels and the country's European minister has said that there is a 50-50 chance of a vote being needed once the pact is finalised in March.
Irish ministers are keen to avoid a referendum after voters only agreed to the two most recent treaty changes having first rejected them. But a decision not to hold a vote would be open to a supreme court challenge.
The Sunday Business Post said some ministers would rather see Ireland's new president, Michael D. Higgins, refer the matter to the court first and eliminate the risk of the government being seen to be dragged into a vote.
For this to happen, the government would have to first pass legislation to enact the 'fiscal compact' agreement designed to tighten deficit rules across the euro zone and send the bill to the president for signature.
The right to refer new legislation to the supreme court for a judgement on its constitutionality is one of the few powers of Ireland's figurehead president, and has been used only 15 times since 1937.
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