Ireland will not be joining any military alliance, according to the Taoiseach.
Leo Varadkar was speaking ahead of a forum this summer, which is due to discuss the future of Ireland's neutrality.
It comes as Finland was admitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) earlier this year, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Finland shares a large border with Russia; while Sweden has also applied for membership of the alliance.
A NATO flag flies surrounded by flags of member states at the headquarters of the military alliance in Brussels. Belgium. Picture via @NATOpress on TwitterAccession of the two Nordic countries would see Ireland, Austria, Malta and Cyprus as the only remaining European Union states outside of NATO.
Some opposition TDs here believe the Government is trying to move Ireland away from its long-held position of neutrality.
Mr Varadkar told the Dáil on Tuesday there is no such proposal from this Government.
"We have no proposals as a Government to join any military alliance," he said.
"We're not going to do that - but we are going to contribute to the UN, particularly through peacekeeping.
"We're going to continue to work with NATO partners through the Partnership for Peace.
"And we're going to continue to work with the EU on security questions through the PESCO arrangement.
"But we will not be joining a military alliance," he added.
'NATO proxy'
During the Cold War, the Irish Government secretly agreed that Britain's RAF could use Irish airspace.
This is something that Professor John Brennan of Maynooth University has claimed makes Ireland a 'proxy of NATO.'
“The 1952 agreement that’s been in the news, it shouldn’t surprise us and if the RAF has been patrolling our skies since that time - how on Earth can we claim that we’re neutral?” he said on Newstalk.
“We’re essentially a proxy of NATO".
Prof Brennan said if Ireland were attacked it was "inevitable" the British would defend us, but more should be done to secure the nation's infrastructure.
“There’s a major report about all the incredible vulnerabilities of Ireland in respect to vital infrastructure,” he said.
“So, this is as much about our own capacity to defend ourselves and this is why I really welcome the Consultative Forum [on International Security Policy] because people are focusing on military neutrality when actually we should be on how our defence infrastructure should be allowed to atrophy over time and this has exposed us in multiple ways to the kind of threats you and I have been talking about," he added.
Ireland and NATO
NATO relations with Ireland began back in 1997, when Ireland deployed personnel in support of a NATO-led peacekeeping operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ireland has also contributed to KFOR in Kosovo since 1999.
In 1999, Ireland joined NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council: a multilateral forum for dialogue, which brings together allies and partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.
Ireland contributes to a variety of PfP activities in areas such as generic planning for peacekeeping and peace support, operational procedures, logistics and training.
The Defence Forces also operate a UN peacekeeping school, which offers courses that are open to NATO allies and partners.
