Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris has said he has instructed officials in the Department of Defence to prepare a more aggressive procurement strategy for acquiring new military capabilities for the Irish Defence Forces.
This includes the acquisition of interceptor jets, as well as radar and sonar capabilities.
Mr Harris was speaking after the opening of a new Defence Forces Cadet School in the Curragh, Co Kildare.
He said Ireland is proudly militarily neutral and there are no plans to change that, "but being militarily neutral does not allow you to recuse yourself from conversations about the appropriate levels of investment in defence and in security" for the State.
He said the Government already plans to spend €1.8 billion per annum in these areas by 2028, but the Programme for Government commits to going further to reach the highest level of spending outlined in a recent Defence Forces Commission report.
He said he has instructed the Department of Defence to begin to prepare the groundwork for that, in terms of assessing costs, military capabilities, infrastructure and personnel.
Mr Harris said radar and sonar capabilities which will allow the skies and seas to be monitored are priorities, and while developments will proceed in a stepped way, he said there will be more naval ships.
The Tánaiste also said he is convinced that a squadron of jet interceptors will also be needed as we now live in a very different geopolitical environment.
Asked whether Ireland would be willing to send troops to Ukraine if there was a United Nations mission there, he said it would depend if there was peace agreement and a cessation of violence, and also if there was then a requirement for peacekeepers.
"We don't believe we should recuse ourselves from that conversation if you got to a point where there was a peace agreement and a cessation of violence and there was a require for peacekeepers... that is something the Government is open to engaging on," Mr Harris said.
Asked if Irish troops might take part in peace enforcement, he said: "We see our role in peacekeeping and not peace enforcing."
People Before Profit has criticised any move to increase defence spending.
Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett said the Government is bending to the will of US President Donald Trump.
"I think Trump is pushing the world towards militarism and more arms expenditure," Mr Boyd Barrett said.
"He is threatening ethinc cleansing of Gaza, he is threatening a trade war and it looks worryingly that our Government are bending the knee to the Trump agenda rather than opposing it as they should do," he added.
