Ireland was still militarily neutral after the Cologne declaration, the Taoiseach said.
Mr Ahern was replying to the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, who asked him to outline his definition of Irish neutrality. The Taoiseach said that the Cologne declaration was discussed at the general affairs council and the neutral states worked together on it.
"From our point of view, and in common with the other neutral states, we are as militarily neutral after the Cologne declaration as we were before it. We did not change our position."
Mr Bruton said it was the case that the declaration agreed in Cologne committed the union to a common defence policy as an objective. "Does the Taoiseach believe that if Ireland were to participate in the framing of a common defence policy with our EU members, we would still be neutral?"
"We should not adopt an isolationist view. Our position over the years - the records of both Houses prove this - is that we are militarily neutral because we have not been involved in ideological arguments about mutual defence," Mr Ahern said.