Fine Gael is proposing a significant change in Irish military policy to allow troops to take part in EU-led military actions abroad without a specific UN mandate.
The change, proposed in the party's International Peace Missions Bill, 2003, published yesterday, would allow for Irish participation in missions such as the EU peacekeeping force in Macedonia.
Under current legislation Ireland can only participate in military action endorsed by a full United Nations mandate, thus excluding the Macedonia mission and any other EU operations set up in the future.
The EU peacekeeping force in Macedonia replaced NATO forces and has both EU and UN support, but not a specific UN mandate.
This was because China vetoed a resolution in protest against the recognition of Taiwan.
Fine Gael expects its Bill to be debated in the Dáil's Private Members' Time during November.
However, Labour made it clear yesterday that it would not be supporting it.
The party's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Michael D. Higgins, said many Irish people would perceive such a change as "an act of bad faith" in the light of assurances given during the Nice Treaty campaign on the circumstances under which Irish troops could serve abroad.
However, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said the change was needed because the world was changing.
"The EU is now developing a new role for itself in global affairs. This new Bill would allow us participate in EU-sponsored missions," he said.
The Fine Gael proposal would mean a change from the current "triple lock" system governing Irish military service abroad.
This refers to the three conditions which must be present before Irish troops can join an international mission: a UN resolution; approval by the Dáil; and agreement by the Government.
The party's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, said yesterday that the Bill was designed to allow Ireland to participate more fully in EU defence arrangements.
The current talks at the EU's Inter-Governmental Conference on defence are intended "to enable the Union to draw on civil and military resources provided by the member-states to take part in missions outside its borders."
While the Fine Gael Bill would allow Irish participation in EU-led missions, it would not affect the issue of whether Irish troops could serve in Iraq, as the military force there now has a UN mandate allowing Irish participation.
The Taoiseach said this week that Ireland would not be participating in the international force in Iraq, although the Government has agreed to send troops to the UN-mandated force in Liberia.
While the Fine Gael Bill would allow for Irish participation in forces that do not have a specific UN mandate, such missions would still have to be "in keeping with the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations", said Mr Mitchell.
"Given the long and proud tradition of the Defence Forces in peacekeeping and peace-enforcement activities internationally, reform of the 'triple lock' system is especially critical," he said.
It was wrong for Ireland to have been excluded from the Macedonia mission, in which 13 EU countries and 14 non-EU countries were working together. "The difficulty getting a UN resolution establishing or authorising an international UN force can relate to the self-interest of members of the Security Council," he went on.
The Chinese veto, in pursuit of an unrelated self-interest, was an example.
"By having a triple lock we have given self-serving members of the UN Security Council, who may be operating to a narrow national agenda, the right to pre-empt our free decision," he said.