A CHANGE of government in advance of the Amsterdam EU summit in June would not greatly affect Ireland's negotiating stance as the Inter Governmental Conference reaches a conclusion, the Tanaiste said yesterday.

Speaking at the publication of a strategy statement for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring said a general election should ideally be held early enough to leave time for preparation for the mid June summit. Alternatively, it should be left to the autumn.

But whatever the decision, he said, Ireland was committed with the rest of its EU partners to concluding the IGC in Amsterdam and moving on to the next issues on the Union's agenda, including enlargement.

The strategy statement unveiled by Mr Spring outlines the development of Department of Foreign Affairs policy over the next three years.

It is part of the Strategic Management Initiative aimed at improving performance in the public service as a whole and also follows upon the White Paper on foreign policy, Challenges and Opportunities Abroad.

Answering reporters questions, the Tanaiste identified the establishment of embassies in Brazil, Mexico, Norway and Turkey as priorities in the development of Ireland's international relations.

He drew attention to recent extensions of diplomatic representation to countries including Israel, Hungary and Malaysia. But he admitted that Ireland was seriously under represented in South America, where only Buenos Aires has an embassy.

There were strong cases for representation in Brazil and Mexico, he said. In Europe, Norway, which was "almost participating" in the EU, was the most obvious deficiency in Ireland's representation, and the case of Turkey was also receiving consideration.

Mr Spring denied that the strategy statement reflected a downgrading of Ireland's policy on neutrality. Ireland was involved, as were all other EU states, in an ongoing debate about issues of common security, he said.

Some favoured a merger between the EU and the Western European Union, and others, including Ireland, were strongly opposed. "I don't see Ireland's neutrality being undermined in any way in that debate."