The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen TD, said he believes it will be possible to reach agreement on policing in Northern Ireland before the summer.
He claimed that talks involving the pro-Belfast Agreement parties at Hillsborough last Thursday had given politicians greater clarity on how they need to proceed.
Speaking in Canberra in Australia, Mr Cowen said once agreement is reached "the Irish Government will play its full part in encouraging young nationalists to join" the new Northern Ireland police force.
In an address to the National Press Club of Australia, Mr Cowen said "in preventing Sinn Féin Ministers from attending meetings of the North/South Ministerial Council, unionists are making decommissioning more, rather than less, difficult to achieve."
However, Mr Cowen said republicans must acknowledge unionist fears over decommissioning and said their concerns cannot be "lightly dismissed or argued away".
"A solution to all of our outstanding difficulties is realistic and achievable," he added.
Mr Cowen was speaking amid signs from the SDLP that it was close to reaching agreement on policing.
SDLP leader Mr John Hume and deputy leader Mr Seamus Mallon have indicated over the past two days that they believe agreement can be reached on the policing issue in June.
Additional reporting by PA