MINISTER FOR Defence Willie O'Dea has warned that he will strongly oppose any Lisbon Treaty solution that involved Ireland opting out of EU defence commitments.
Mr O'Dea, who was in Cork yesterday, said the Cabinet had not discussed proposals that would involve Ireland ratifying the treaty in a way that would allow an opt- out on EU defence commitments.
He said if any such proposal was to be brought before Cabinet, he would strongly oppose it as it would prevent Irish troops from taking part in any EU operations, such as the current peacekeeping involvement in Chad.
The Irish Times revealed two weeks ago that Irish officials had gone to Denmark to get advice on how Ireland could opt out of significant provisions of the Lisbon Treaty such as defence, as the Danes did in 1993, following their rejection of the Maastricht Treaty.
"The Government hasn't even considered the matter; it hasn't been brought before the Government in any shape or form. We discussed Lisbon in some length the other day but that certainly didn't arise, and if it is proposed I will certainly be making the case against.
"If there was an opt-out it would mean that we would not be able to participate any more in EU-organised missions such as Chad, and that would come as a great shock and great disappointment to everyone in this country whether they voted Yes or No," he added.
Mr O'Dea said he could not understand how a third of people surveyed by Millward Brown in the Government-commissioned research on the referendum could believe it included conscription for an EU army, when clearly there was no such provision.
"I find that absolutely bewildering, not least because we had these dire predictions in relation to every other EU treaty and they never came to pass - people never believed them to any great extent that I'm aware of. Apparently they did believe them on this occasion."
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said a national debate about Ireland's place in the European Union would be the focus of a new parliamentary forum on Europe which was being established with all-party support.
Mr Martin said the forum would take the form of a subcommittee of the Oireachtas European Affairs committee and that its brief would be wider than the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, but would look at Ireland's position in the EU and the future direction of the union.
"It is important to get the right decision from this process," he added. "There are no easy solutions. We haven't come to a conclusion in terms of what is the best option and it is important to point out that it is only 13 weeks after the people made their decision."
The Minister was speaking after a meeting with British foreign secretary David Miliband at Iveagh House in Dublin, during which they discussed the implications of the rejection of the Treaty and a range of international issues.