I welcome the publication last Tuesday of the Government White Paper on Foreign Policy, Challenges and Opportunities Abroad.

The paper encompasses a range of issues including the European Union, International Security, Human Rights, the Irish Abroad, Cultural Relations and the Democratic Accountability of Foreign Policy.

Much of the content mirrors the Fianna Fail document, Our Place in the World, which I introduced in November last year. For example, we in Fianna Fail have consistently stated that Ireland must continue to work towards the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP for Official Development Assistance contributions that the retention of the present institutional balance within the European Union must be a priority and that the rights of smaller states must be maintained.

The basis of Fianna Fail's document is an analysis of where Ireland finds itself on the world stage after less than three quarters of a century as an independent nation practising its own foreign policy. It points to the role of the Irish people as builders of nations, the commitment of Ireland to oppressed nations, the respected moral position it has, earned thanks to its neutrality and its advocacy of nuclear non proliferation, and the role of the Irish nation as an experienced and honoured keeper of peace in various troublespots throughout the world.

WHILE I welcome the publication of the White Paper, I am disappointed it was delayed by eight months. This inordinate delay makes a sham of the sentiments expressed in the Tanaiste's introduction and Chapter 16 of the paper, which extol the virtues of "accountability, transparency and freedom of information". The White Paper, on this score, stands indicted, particularly in view of the fact that the Inter Governmental Conference will open in Turin tomorrow.

Chapter 4 of the White Paper, on International Security, is riddled with inconsistencies and double think, which even those who are most friendly to Irish participation in a defence alliance have noted and are puzzled by.

At different points in the paper, it is stated that the Government is not proposing that Ireland join Nato or the WEU, both organisations with commitments to collective military" action in the event of an attack on one or more of their members or, presumably, their strategic interests. The paper firmly states that membership would not be compatible with neutrality.

In an amazing exercise of double think the Government, which seeks,, to participate in the Nato sponsored Partnership for Peace (PFP) as well as the WEU, both of which are bodies with nuclear armouries, clearly states that it wishes to become "a constructive participant" in negotiations on a common defence policy for the European Union, "one which wants to contribute to and influence the outcome and one which wishes to participate in its implementation.

The foreign editor of The Irish Times quite correctly asks: "Are these principles consistent with the military neutrality the Government says it will not abrogate? Could Ireland participate in a common defence policy along these lines and remain out of a military alliance?"

These probing questions echo my own sentiments precisely.

Regrettably, the three parties in Government have been unable to give a clear statement on the position of Irish neutrality, an issue to which the people of Ireland have a strong attachment.

WHILE the Government has clearly avoided making a definitive policy statement on the issue by using statements such as deciding to . . . discuss the possibility", the clear thrust of the paper is that the Irish people will be asked to join the Partnership for Peace, which amounts to second class I membership of Nato, and to sign up for involvement with the EU's so called Petersberg Tasks.

Both of these organisations have a nuclear capability which is anathema to Irish people one only needs to recall the consistent opposition to Sellafield. Irish people are totally opposed to the use of nuclear power for both military and civilian purposes.

The Irish Campaign for Nuclear, Disarmament statement on the White Paper says clearly that the paper "represents a thinly veiled, proposal by the Government to pursue a policy of involvement by stealth in the nuclear weapons based armed forces of Nato. The proposed involvement in Nato's so called Partnership for Peace is designed to Iwean Ireland away from its traditional UN duties and towards eventual full integration into a nuclear army and the complete ending of our neutral status".

Fundamentally, the Tanaiste's approach to this core aspect of our foreign policy could most charitably be described as misleading. On the other hand, he seeks in name to maintain our policy of neutrality. On the other hand, without the benefit of a referendum to test the opinions of the Irish people, he seeks to involve Ireland in exercises of adventurism with nations affiliated to Nato, the world's largest, military alliance, and with nation as which have created and deployed military weapons of nuclear capability.

We in Fianna Fail firmly believe this is not what the Irish people want, nor is it in the interests of all of the citizens of this country to pursue this course.

We firmly believe in the positive, value of Irish military neutrality, and we believe that there remains a strong attachment amongst people throughout the country to our honourable tradition of military neutrality, our promotion of nuclear disarmament and our participation in international peacekeeping. We also favour a collective security under the auspices of international organisations, for example, the UN and the OSCE.

What we do not want and what we reject out of hand are the clouded arguments of the Government which edge Ireland closer to full participation in an existing military alliance, Nato or the WEU.