Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless has said he does not believe that external security assistance will be required when Ireland holds the presidency of the European Council next July.
Responding to a question on the issue on RTÉ's The Week In Politics, he said: "I don't expect so, no."
That said, he believes that Russia poses "a very real and present threat".
Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin said in any security discussion it had to be remembered that soldiers in the Defence Forces have "the worst pay and conditions aross the public sector" and this should change.
He said the issue of external security assistance is a matter for the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána.
Regarding the flying of unidentified drones in the Irish Sea on the day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was flying to Dublin, deputy O'Broin said he would wait to the outcome of the Garda investigation.
Labour's Conor Sheehan said Belgium should back a European Commission plan to ensure that billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to help cover Ukraine's war needs over the next two years.
The Belgian Government is concerned that the plan carries legal and financial risks that it fears it could end up shouldering alone.
Deputy Sheehan said he was glad that the Irish government was backing the proposal.
Ó Broin warns Govt infrastructure proposals will make situation 'much worse'
Meanwhile, Mr Lawless contended that "this country's success" is dependent on the Government's new plan to speed-up critical infrastructure.
He said that he expected legislation to reform judicial reviews would be published in "early 2026."
The minister said departments needed to move from being "risk averse" to "risk tolerance", as this "needs to change" if the plan is to be delivered.
Mr Ó Broin said having a new "glossy brochure" is very different from delivering and he warned that some of the new proposals would make the situation "much worse".
He said if the Government wanted to take real, immediate and urgent action they could double the number of judges dealing with critical infrastructure and employ 500 more planners.
The deputy also argued that the Government "badly transposed EU legislation" which contributed to the housing crisis.
The Labour Party's housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan said he would "cautiously" welcome the new legislation, but there were many other issues the Government could do.
When it came to judicial reviews, he said the Government had yet to introduce provisions in the Planning and Development Act which was passed last year.
He said Local Authority planning offices needed to be better staffed.
