The 10-day disarmament deadline imposed on Saddam Hussein by Britain and the US increases pressure on the Government to specify its stance on a unilateral attack on Iraq.
The Government responded to the latest report by the chief United Nations weapons inspector, Dr Hans Blix, by stating that it was for the UN Security Council to decide whether the arms inspectors should be given more time.
While welcoming the conclusion that there was no evidence of continued nuclear activity, a spokesman for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said it was a matter of concern that Iraq had not yet fully complied with the United Nations.
After the US and Britain set a 10-day deadline for full-compliance by Iraq with resolutions requiring it to disarm fully, the spokesman declined to specify what position the Government would adopt were the US and Britain to attack Iraq in the absence of a new resolution.
It would be "better for everyone" if there was agreement on such a resolution, he said.
"We will have to take a decision when the full parameters of that decision are known."
Dr Blix's report said there was a greater degree of co-operation from Iraq, but added that its efforts were still falling short of what was required by the international community. He said it would take months to verify whether Iraq was in full compliance with its obligations.
The Foreign Affairs spokesman said: "It is now up to the Security Council to decide whether more time should be allowed and whether an extension and strengthening of the inspectorate would yield the desired results of immediate and unconditional disarmament."
Fine Gael's spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell, said there was no immediate need for war, adding that the work of the UN inspectors should continue.
While Iraq was responding to the demands of the UN, it was doing so only "reluctantly and sluggishly".
"Fine Gael remains unequivocally opposed to any action against Iraq which is not duly sanctioned by the UN," he said.
Labour's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Michael D. Higgins, said the latest report provided "no support" for the advocates of unilateral military action.
"It reinforces the need for the international community to provide the inspectors with every necessary resource needed to avert a catastrophic conflict," he said.
