Dublin  - A row over a pay-off to the disgraced former chief of the Irish government training and employment agency, Fas, is threatening to overshadow the final days of the Lisbon referendum campaign in Ireland.

The contradictory evidence from the Irish Premier Brian Cowen and a senior civil servant over the reasons behind a pay-off to agency chief Roddy Molloy was dominating headlines Monday, days ahead of Ireland's second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on Friday.

A successful "No" vote defeated the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum in Ireland in June 2008.

It emerged last week that Molloy, who resigned last November amid controversy over gross overspending at the agency, was given a 1.1 million euro (1.6 million dollars) pay-off to ease his departure, when he was forced to resign in 2008 over an expenses scandal.

A parliamentary committee was told by a senior Department of Enterprise official that the deal was struck because Molloy had threatened legal action.

But Cowen said that there had been no threat of legal action, according to Irish Independent reports Monday.

"A sweetheart deal between friends," is how opposition Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar described the pay-off.

"The government wanted the problem to go away and the solution was to pay him off. He did not threaten legal action," he said.

The controversy has overshadowed Cowen's appeal Sunday "to every person in the country who believes that Ireland and Europe are better together, to help achieve a "Yes" vote in Friday's Lisbon referendum."

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, Cowen said the vote was too important for people to stand on the sidelines.

Cowen described Friday as one of the most important votes in recent Irish history.

He said the guarantees achieved have dealt with concerns on tax, neutrality, workers rights, social protection and membership of the European Commission, putting people in a position to feel easier about focusing on the real meaning of the Lisbon Treaty.

Cowen added that the overwhelming evidence is that a "Yes" vote marks an essential step on the road to economic recovery.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he was confident, but "not complacent" about the result. He said his party would keep pushing for a Yes vote in the closing stages of the campaign.

The final opinion poll of the Lisbon referendum campaign published Sunday showed that the "Yes" side had a comfortable two to one majority if undecided voters were excluded.

The anti-Lisbon campaign has also gained support in the last two weeks.

The Red C poll in the Sunday Business Post newspaper shows that 55 per cent said they would vote "Yes", an increase of one point since the last Red C poll two weeks ago, while 27 per cent said they would vote "No," an increase of two points.

18 per cent are still undecided, but when they are excluded, the "Yes" side has a two to one advantage.(dpa)