Minister of State Brian Hayes said he is “very hopeful” a stimulus package for Europe’s ailing economy can be agreed by leaders at a European summit later this month.

Proposals to promote growth and investment are expected to top the agenda at the May 23rd summit in Brussels which is now being billed as a crucial date in the euro zone’s ongoing financial crisis.

“There is no doubt that we need to map out a growth, investment and jobs agenda that is going to help the euro zone, and those non-euro zone countries, to get over this difficulty,” Mr Hayes said at an event in Dublin Castle today.

His comments came as a group of Independent TDs and an MEP called on the Government to postpone the referendum on the fiscal treaty following what they described as “game-changing events” in Europe last week.

Independent MEP Marian Harkin said Ireland should not vote on the deal until potential revisions, including a new growth stimulus, were written into the text.

“I think what happened last week was a game-changer. We had the German parliament unable to ratify the fiscal treaty,” said Ms Harkin.

She was joined by a number of Independent TDs calling for the postponement, including Dublin South’s Shane Ross and Dublin North Central’s Finian McGrath.

Mr McGrath said the Government owes it to the public to allow them to cast their vote only once fully informed of the details of the treaty. Mr Ross declined to say say which way he would vote.

Minster Hayes said the Government had noted “very carefully” several ideas being promoted by France’s president-elect Francois Hollande, in particular those related to the future role of the European Investment Bank and the use of EU structural funds in stimulating growth.

However, he cautioned that whatever stimulus measures are agreed they would be “in addition” to the budgetary rules contained in the fiscal treaty and therefore should not substantially change the debate in Ireland on the treaty referendum.

As to whether Ireland might seek measures to deal with its banking debt as part of a stimulus package, Mr Hayes said the Government was committed to working with its EU partners to get a deal on bank debt but this was a separate issue to the fiscal treaty referendum. “We’ve been very clear that we’re decoupling the issue of this referendum and the bank debt.”

He said there was “an ongoing a piece of work” in relation to the promissory notes that Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and others were involved in. He said these talks would not become central to the fiscal treaty campaign just to suit the agenda of businessman Declan Ganley, who began campaigning for a No vote at the weekend.

Mr Ganley today compared being asked to vote Yes in the referendum to being offered a ticket for the Titanic.

Launching his posters in Dublin advocating a No vote in the May 31st poll, Mr Ganley said: "There has been an unfortunate failure to address the millstone, the ball and chain, of bank debt that Ireland has been saddled with. Ireland is carrying a disproportionate share of Europe's bank debt and that needs to be resolved.

"They are driving this Titanic into an iceberg. We have to say 'stop'."

Earlier today, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble said the EU cannot alter the agreed rules on tighter fiscal discipline following elections in several European countries including France.

Mr Hollande won the French presidential election last week on a pro-growth platform and has criticised Germany's emphasis on austerity policies to tackle Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

"We can't change treaties that have already been agreed after elections. How can we change a treaty that has been agreed (among EU leaders)? President Hollande knows that cannot be done," Mr Schäuble said during a visit to a Berlin school.

Mr Schäuble said the European Central Bank could not keep the euro stable by monetary means alone and governments' fiscal efforts were also important.

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton described the fiscal treaty as a "cushion" that would give Ireland access to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Ms Burton was speaking at a Labour event in Dublin this morning, when she made a particular appeal to women to vote Yes to the treaty.

"It's a cushion, a safety net. I think there's every good reason for voters...to focus on the fact that agreeing to pass the treaty actually gives us access to the ESM," said Ms Burton, who is Labour's director of elections in the fiscal treaty referendum.

"Particularly women are treating this referendum with great seriousness because at the end of the day they have to make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their communities."

A clear majority of the electorate now supports the referendum, according to a Red C poll in the Sunday Business Post. Support for a Yes vote increased to 53 per cent, up six points, while the No vote declined four points to 31 per cent. Sixteen per cent of people remain undecided.