Fine Gael has confirmed that Richard Bruton will take part in a live televised debate on the Seanad referendum tonight. Minister Bruton will participate in a head-to-head debate with the Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.

Minister Bruton will argue in favour of the Yes side, while Deputy Martin will represent the No campaign.

The two will appear on RTÉ tonight to debate the referendum on scrapping the second house of the Oireachtas.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has come under fire over his refusal to debate.

On Saturday, the Green Party Chairperson Roderic O'Gorman said the stance of Mr. Kenny is "a failure of political leadership", and that the governments referendum campaign has been "driven by spin".

Minister Bruton says Fine Gael is not happy with how RTÉ has chosen to exclude non-political campaigning groups from the debate.

He believes to should not have been limited to representatives of political parties.