The Government has insisted that its proposed wording for the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty will not allow it to enter any new defence pact without seeking advance approval of the electorate.
This assertion followed Opposition criticism yesterday of the wording for the referendum to ratify the treaty.
The Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, published yesterday, is necessary to enable the State to endorse the Amsterdam Treaty along with the 14 other EU member-states.
No date has been proposed for the referendum, but Government sources suggested that polling could take place early in April.
Mr Proinsias De Rossa, the leader of Democratic Left, maintained that the proposed amendment was far too wide in scope and would amount to a "blank cheque" for this and future governments to implement any provision of the treaty without the sanction of the Irish people.
Ms Patricia McKenna, the Green Party MEP, claimed that the wording flew in the face of assurances from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, that any future changes in Irish neutrality would be put to the electorate in a referendum.
Yesterday's wording goes further than simply authorising the State to ratify the Amsterdam Treaty. If passed, it would also allow the State to "exercise the options or discretions" provided by various past EU treaties.
However, the Government insists that this provision would simply allow the State to enter into certain non-defence arrangements. A spokesman stressed that Irish involvement in a defence pact would not occur without ratification by the electorate.