Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Helen McEntee has said security arrangements have not yet been made with other countries ahead of Ireland taking on the EU Presidency in July.
Appearing before the Committee on Defence and National Security this morning, Ms McEntee said the Government and Defence Forces were currently "exploring what may or may not be possible".
She took a number of questions from TDs and Senators about Ireland's defensive capabilities, as well as the new National Maritime Security Strategy, which she launched yesterday.
She told politicians: "There's no agreement. Despite reports today that we've made an agreement with France and the UK, there's no agreement that we would have ships in our waters, in our EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), or within our 12-nautical-mile limit."
"But I am exploring what options may be available to us, should we require assistance," she said.
On 1 July, Ireland will take over the EU presidency for a period of six months, with "high-level" meetings taking place and a number of heads of state travelling into the country.
Ms McEntee said that it was "really important" that the security "not just of our own citizens, but that [of] all of those [citizens] are taken extremely seriously".
"So, I'm currently engaging on what possible powers may be available to us," she added.
Senator Gerard Craughwell asked Ms McEntee about NATO countries sharing intelligence with non-NATO countries.
"I'd be interested to know how we managed to get around that one?" he asked.
Ms McEntee responded by saying she was engaging with matters such as these in order to identify what could be possible "given that we are not a NATO" member and "given that we are a neutral country".
She added that she has contacted allies who may be able to "provide support if needed".
"We have certain capabilities, but if we require additional support, we should not be afraid to ask for it if it is within our constitutional limits," she told the committee.
