A Government backbencher said that there should have been a referendum on Partnership for Peace (PfP). Mr Dick Roche (FF, Wicklow) said that a commitment in the 1997 Fianna Fail manifesto was not expressed in absolute terms.

"The point is, however, that the people believe that an unequivocal undertaking was given. In modern politics, perception is a reality. The Irish people already have more than enough reason to be cynical about politicians."

Mr Roche was speaking during the resumed debate on a Government motion approving membership of PfP.

Mr John Gormley (Green Party, Dublin South East) said that the people of Ireland, and future generations, would not thank the Government, or certain opposition deputies, for the half-truths they had put forward on PfP.

PfP, he said, was a support structure for NATO. "To try to fob it off as the Salvation Army or the Red Cross, involved in solely humanitarian actions, is simply untrue, and the Government knows it."

The debate continues today.