The declaration guaranteeing that Irish military neutrality will not be affected by the Nice Treaty is "too little too late", the Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, said yesterday.
Mr O'Keeffe was referring to the agreement on such a declaration given to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, by EU leaders at the summit in Barcelona. It is expected to be agreed at June's EU summit in Seville.
The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the Taoiseach should put his proposed declaration on neutrality into the public arena.
"What we have learnt from Nice is that formulas negotiated without prior consultation often generate resentment among the Irish people. The concerns voiced by the Irish people about Nice went beyond the issue of neutrality," he said.
Mr Quinn added that issues of accountability of decision makers at home and in Europe were significant. "The lack of debate and information were critical factors too. If the Taoiseach is to seek a specific protocol to the Nice Treaty on neutrality, it should be open for public discussion and comment well in advance."
Mr O'Keeffe said Fine Gael had proposed a number of months ago that such a declaration should be made in a document he had published outlining the Government's failures on the Nice Treaty.
"My concern about the present situation is that there is a danger of too little too late. I am not against the proposal but in isolation I feel it may not be enough. Any declaration should be underpinned by legislation specifying the conditions and making it quite clear that any participation by Irish defence forces in future missions under the EU flag must be exclusively subject to the consent of Dβil ╔ireann," he said.
Mr O'Keeffe said he had proposed that neutrality "be taken off the table as far as the Nice Treaty is concerned".
"There should be a comprehensive White Paper addressing the issue of Irish neutrality in Europe ... The Treaty of Nice does not affect our military neutrality one iota but there was a perception that it did and because of that perception I felt these steps need to be taken."
A spokesman for the Progressive Democrats said a declaration such as the one agreed in Barcelona would "very welcome". He said there had been an agreement in Government to seek it. "There was a lot of misinformation and confusion on the possible implications for our neutrality in the Nice Treaty campaign, even though there were no implications. This declaration would offset some of that."
Meanwhile, Mr Quinn said he was particularly critical of the Government's failure to deal with the issue of democratic accountability since the Nice result. "There is no accountability to the Irish people or their parliament for decisions taken by Irish Ministers in Europe," he said.