FINE GAEL will head an Oireachtas inquiry into the Lisbon Treaty referendum result, following an agreement with the Government.
Under the plan, a subcommittee of the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs will investigate the reasons for the No vote and report within eight weeks.
The membership of the full committee is to be increased to ensure that Sinn Féin has one representative and one of the Independents are also included.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Michéal Martin initially had wanted a new, separate Oireachtas committee to be formed for the task, but Fine Gael rejected this.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday morning said the terms of the reference for the subcommittee would be published today, but last night this was delayed until next week.
The Lisbon committee will be headed by a Fine Gael TD, though the party's leader, Enda Kenny, has yet to make a decision on who will lead it. The existing Fine Gael members of the full committee are Wicklow TD Billy Timmins, Kildare North's Bernard Durkan, Dublin South East's Lucinda Creighton, Clare TD Pat Breen and Senator Pascal Donohoe.
The eight-week deadline for the subcommittee is regarded as tight by some of those likely to be involved, though it will not offer suggestions for the Government's next step.
Meanwhile, elected representatives at local, national and European level are being asked to sign a "covenant" to oppose a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and any attempt at ratification through the Oireachtas.
Launching the initiative on behalf of the People's Movement, a coalition of activists who campaigned against the treaty, former Green MEP for Dublin Patricia McKenna said: "This is part of our ongoing campaign to defend the democratic decision of the Irish people made on June 12th."
Under the title, A Covenant between Irish Public Representatives and the People of Ireland, the document, also available in Irish as An Cúnant, is published as a parchment-style document with a harp design.
The text declares that the signatory believes the Lisbon result "expressed the democratic will of the people of this State and must be fully respected" and recognises that the treaty "must be ratified by all member states before it can come into force". The document continues: "I therefore reject calls from whatever source to have a further referendum on the treaty or to ratify it by any other means."
Candidates in next June's local and European elections are also being asked to sign the document.
Ms McKenna told a news conference in Dublin yesterday: "It is clear that both here and abroad there is an ongoing attempt to overthrow the decision of the Irish people and it's essential that those elected to serve the people of this country respect the will of the people of this country."