If the Government goes ahead with the National Stadium in west Dublin, they will be "selling it within four years to the private sector, like the Dome in London at about a quarter of the cost", the Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, predicted.

The Cabinet would spend £1 billion "in taxpayers' money to create a white elephant which will not pay for itself", he said, ending a two-day debate on the stadium.

Dr Mary Upton (Lab, Dublin South Central) said that out-of-town stadiums did not work and suggested that Lansdowne Road was an "excellent location and we should examine if this can be redeveloped. There is quite poor use of space on the land and a bowl design would allow for more seats."

However, the Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, said that the IRFU had long recognised that Lansdowne Road was outdated and no longer had the capacity to meet the crowd requirements for rugby internationals. He believed that "not only would Stadium Ireland be viable, it will be profitable. I would like to scotch the argument about the size of Stadium Ireland being too big. With the downsizing technologies available in modern stadia it will be possible to take the stadium size down from 80,000 to 60,000 to 40,000 without losing the intimate atmosphere the fans want."

The Government defeated the Fine Gael motion by 76 to 64 votes.