Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton briefly raised the controversial prospect of a re-run of the referendum in the event of a No vote when he took part in a radio debate.

He then retracted his comments.

During the debate Today FM host Matt Cooper asked Mr Bruton if the Government had a "plan B" and inquired what he would say to Ireland's European counterparts in the event of a No vote.

"I suppose we will have to say that we will need access to this fund and I think Ireland will be looking to say can we vote again because we will need access to this fund," Mr Bruton said.

Asked if he was suggesting a re-run in the event of the referendum being rejected, Mr Burton said: "I'm saying that we will have a crisis on our hands and we will face a really, really difficult situation in funding ourselves. That's the reality."

Later in the debate Mr Bruton said there would be "no question" of a second vote. Mr Cooper put it to Mr Bruton that he had said the opposite earlier.

"I'm retracting what I said. There's nothing wrong with being honest. Government has made it clear that there will be no second vote and I just want to clarify that. This is a debate. We can all make mistakes," he said.

Following Mr Bruton's remarks the Fine Gael director of elections Simon Coveney issued a statement saying that under no circumstances would there be a second vote.