It is "incredible" that the Government will be committing 850 Irish troops to an EU rapid reaction force without any real debate, the Dail has been told.

Mr John Gormley (Green, Dublin South East) said there should be a referendum on the issue and asked what were the implications for Irish neutrality, and for Ireland's role as UN peacekeepers.

The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, however said the Government had decided yesterday to authorise the commitment of 850 troops from within the current UN standby system, and this would "in no way degrade our commitment to UN peacekeeping".

He insisted that "as participation will only arise where UN authorisation is in place, the commitment" would not "impinge in a negative way on the overall thrust of the overseas peacekeeping effort".

Mr Gormley said the Minister's claims that the force would operate only under a UN mandate were totally misleading. He believed the real reason for the EU force in the first place "is an attempt to bypass UN mandates, to allow the EU to go-it-alone in the military field and to ignore the UN Security Council".

He added that he found it worrying that the recruitment campaigns for the Defence Forces had as a theme "The Celtic Tiger needs more claws".

He asked Mr Smith: "Just whom exactly does the Minister intend our armed forces to be mauling? And in whose name?"

Mr Smith said participation in any individual mission would be considered by the Government on a case-by-case basis. The force would comprise a light infantry battalion of up to 750 personnel, an Army Ranger Wing platoon of about 40 as well as small numbers in headquarters, national support and observer elements.

Mr Michael D. Higgins (Lab our, Galway West) said there was a sense of outrage in Ireland about the establishment of this rapid reaction force. The force was not being defined nor were the conflicts in which it would be involved.

There were serious questions about legitimacy and accountability.