The State plans to be a member of the Partnership for Peace before the end of the year, the Taoiseach told the House.

"I would envisage, all going well, that Ireland will join the Partnership for Peace on a mutually agreed basis in the second half of this year, and the Government will be working towards that timetable," said Mr Ahern.

He said those attached to the maintenance of a meaningful neutrality must be prepared to adapt it to new situations. "PFP will allow us to keep a credible, viable and constructive neutrality, which I think has always been the character of our foreign policy. It does not mean our foreign policy will be uncritically aligned with NATO.

"We shall continue to work with our EU partners and with like-minded countries in all parts of the world to defuse conflict and create a greater sense of harmony and solidarity among countries with often very different traditions and interests."

Mr Ahern said he thought the State's professional diplomatic advisers, as well as the Defence Forces, believed Ireland should formally consider joining PFP.

"As I said in UCD, I would not wish essentially ideological considerations to inhibit the operational effectiveness of the Defence Forces or hamper their valuable contribution. However, I would warn against both the hopes and fears expressed that this will have implications for the level of defence spending. It is not the Government's intention as a result of joining PFP to change the level of real defence spending."

Mr Ahern was speaking during the debate on a Fine Gael private member's motion calling on the Dail to approve the State joining PFP. Moving the motion on Wednesday, the FG spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell, said the debate was overdue.

"For contrary to the spin from Government circles, this debate was not initiated before Christmas by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Rather it began over three years ago with the public consultation process and the publication of the foreign policy White Paper by the Rainbow government."

Mr Ahern said yesterday the Government had to consult its respective party political instincts and judge what best served the national interest. He expressed surprise that the new Labour spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, openly opposed membership, despiting endorsing the Rainbow Government's foreign policy White Paper.

"It is not clear to me whether Labour is now departing from its policy under Deputy Dick Spring, and whether it is about to adopt the more strident anti-Americanism that has been the hallmark of Deputy De Rossa's leadership of Democratic Left and the Workers' Party. I note that Deputy Spring's signature to the Labour motion is conspicuous by its absence, and he never accepted Deputy De Rossa's argument that a referendum is required."

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr De Rossa said that in the context of our longstanding commitment to neutrality and non-participation in military alliances, any Dail proposal that Ireland should join PFP, "an organisation that is effectively a NATO sub-group", was always going to be controversial.

"Whatever decision is finally taken about membership of PFP - and again it is no secret that my view is that we should not join - I am absolutely satisfied that any decision at this stage would be totally pre-emptive."

A Government amendment that the possibility of joining PFP be "favourably examined" was passed by 73 votes to 68.