Taoiseach Micheál Martin has saluted the dedication and bravery of Irish peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, saying the nation values and respects their work.
Travelling to Lebanon on International Day of the UN Peacekeeper, he laid a wreath to the 47 blue helmets who died while deployed to the UNIFIL mission.
The Taoiseach also said he hoped a Citizens Assembly on Irish neutrality could be held in the lifetime of this Government, adding the war in Ukraine was a "very strong reminder of the necessity to improve our defences".
Mr Martin said Ireland remains committed to the UNIFIL mission "now and into the future".
Asked about the Government's plans to develop the Defence Forces, the Taoiseach said he acknowledged that "there are gaps and deficiencies".
He said work was under way, involving his department, to "fine-tune" the report from the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces, and said this would go to Cabinet next month.
The Taoiseach said the challenge now following the publication of the review of the Defence Forces "is to provide a timeline and a programme that will address that in terms of increased investment". He said "Option 1" given by the review, that of standing still, is not an option for the Government.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney, who accompanied the Taoiseach and will bring the memo to Cabinet, said dramatic reform was coming.
He said that it would cost, but this was "absolutely justified and required".
The Defence Forces Chief of staff Lt Gen Seán Clancy said he was optimistic that they would get the "increased level of capability that we require."
He described the upcoming Cabinet decision as "pivotal."
Mr Coveney said UN missions have changed in recent years - peacekeeping giving way to peace enforcement, which are more complicated.
However, he said Ireland remained committed to Lebanon and the Irish contingent numbers would remain at the current level of 338.
On the suggestion that UN peacekeepers could play a part in Ukraine, the Taoiseach said the war in Ukraine would have to end first. Irish peacekeepers always operate under a UN mandate and would always be ready to play a part, he added.
Mr Martin led a ceremony in southern Lebanon to commemorate the 47 members of the Irish Defence Forces who lost their lives while serving with the UN.
Three wreaths were laid at a monument in Tibnine town, where Irish forces were headquartered between 1978 and 2002, before returning in 2011.
Special mention was made today for three Irish Defence Force members who died in the month of May.
They were: Sergeant Charles Forrester died in 1989, aged 37; Sergeant Edward Yeates who died in 1980 aged 43; and Private Billy Kidian who died in 1999 aged 21.
One of the mukthar's of Tibnine town, Abdo Haddid, said the Irish Defence Forces were now family rather than friends - after helping the community for more than 40 years.
Also attending the ceremony was Polish priest Rev Fr Vodek, as Irish troops currently serve on a joint UN mission with the Polish UN contingent.
Members of the Malaysian UN contingent were also present, as they have taken over the old Irish base in the town.
Also mentioned today, in the ceremony, was peacekeeper Captain Ronald McCann died in the Congo in May 1962.
Additional reporting Colman O'Sullivan
