Labour has proposed making it a legal requirement that the Government spend 0.7 per cent of GNP on overseas development aid.
Party leader Pat Rabbitte also attacked the failure of the Taoiseach to live up to a promise to the United Nations in 2000 to reach the 0.7 target by 2007 as "ignominious and disgraceful".
The party has published a Bill which, if implemented, would enshrine the 0.7 per cent figure as a minimum legal requirement and also establish a development co-operation fund to administer the money.
While Labour is unable to introduce the proposed legislation as an opposition party, party leader Pat Rabbitte said the party was seeking to rally support for the concept.
"Of all the promises made and broken by this Government, its broken promise on [ development aid] to the world's poor is the most ignominious and disgraceful," Mr Rabbitte said.
"The Taoiseach made that commitment on behalf of the Irish people, he campaigned for support across the globe for a seat on the UN Security Council on the basis of that particular commitment, and we're merely saying now that they should honour it," he said.
He said the 0.7 target would never be met while overseas development aid had to compete with other domestic spending concerns.
He also said arguments by the Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development aid, Conor Lenihan, that the level of growth of GNP made the target more difficult to reach, did not stand up to scrutiny.
"Conor Lenihan's argument means that we have become too wealthy to help the world's poor," he said.
The Government is set to come under pressure in the Dáil this week over the failure to meet the 2007 commitment, with a debate on a Green Party motion calling on the Government to reinstate its 2007 deadline.
On Saturday U2 lead singer Bono made a direct plea to the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the band's concert in Croke Park, which Mr Ahern was attending.
Labour's spokesman on foreign affairs, Michael D Higgins, said attaining the 0.7 figure for developed nations would be the "first step towards an integrated approach" to addressing poverty.