Legislation to permit Irish soldiers to train abroad as part of proposed EU battlegroups was ruled out for the present by Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea.
He said he had established an interdepartmental working group to examine all issues regarding Ireland's potential participation in battlegroups.
"Among the issues to be examined in that regard is the question of the need for overseas training, and the issues to which such training might give rise, including policy and legal issues.
"Pending the completion of the work of the group, I cannot say whether overseas training will be necessary having regard to Ireland's possible contribution to a battlegroup and, if it were necessary, whether that would give rise to a need for legislation."
Gerard Murphy (FG, Cork North West) said Ireland had a long tradition of participating in the UN force in many troubled areas throughout the world.
"It is my understanding that the UN strongly backs the concept of battlegroups and a rapid response to tragedies that might be happening in the neighbourhood of, or adjoining, the EU, or anywhere in the world.
"Rapid reaction means that the job must be done immediately.
"If we take so long simply to prepare our involvement in such an operation, how in God's name are we ever to be able to take part in a force that will have to act within hours in certain cases if it is to stop crises evolving in certain parts of the world?"
Mr O'Dea said Ireland had a long and proud record of service to the United Nations, and he wanted to emphasise that it would continue.
"The battlegroup concept is that a relatively small force should go in very quickly to stabilise a situation.
"Later, there would be ordinary UN involvement, and we will, of course, continue to play a role in that."
Mr O'Dea said it was not correct to allege that a long, drawn-out delay characterised Ireland's approach to the matter.
"There are two possible sources of battlegroups.
"There are national battlegroups such as the UK might provide.
"If we participate, however, we will be part of a multinational battlegroup.
"There are very serious issues regarding multinational battlegroups, including common costs and training, interoperability and various other matters that have not been resolved at EU level."
