The State will pay €191 million for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road as the national stadium, with the remainder to be paid by the IRFU and the FAI, according to the Minister for Sport.

Mr O'Donoghue has also said it is "very important that international games are not played outside the country at any point during the construction phase", which will take 29 months and which he hopes will be completed by the end of 2008. "Delivery of the project will be the joint responsibility of the IRFU and the FAI".

It would be a "great blow to the morale and prestige of sport in the country if that were to happen, and I will engage in as much dialogue and discussion with the major sporting organisations as is humanly possible to see if we can bring about a resolution to that problem".

During question time, Labour's spokesman Mr Jack Wall said now was the time to start negotiations on alternative venues for international matches "given the huge implications for the Exchequer of losing international matches" and the "limited choice of venues".

The Minister said the stadium would be closed completely during construction and the "issue will have to be addressed in far greater detail in the near future".

He told Mr Damien English (FG, Meath) who asked about local residents' planning concerns, that the IRFU had been consulting residents. "There are no guarantees I can give about objections," Mr O'Donoghue said.

"All I can say is I hope we can keep to or improve upon the time frame I envisage. However, I do not want to give rise to any false hopes and therefore I have consistently stated that it is my ambition that the stadium would be completed during 2008."