The Republic is expected to be asked to supply 50 military observers to participate in the European verification mission to prevent further loss of life in Kosovo.
Some 2,000 soldiers from a number of European countries are expected to be committed to the region where tens of thousands of refugees are enduring rapidly worsening weather conditions.
The monitor force, which will oversee the withdrawal of Serbian forces and provide humanitarian assistance for Kosovar Albanian refugees, is expected to be assembled quickly to head off the impending humanitarian crisis.
The force is being assembled by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an alliance of smaller European states to which the Republic has been affiliated for several years.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that while no formal approach had been made to the Government to supply troops a request was expected by the end of this week.
It is understood that preliminary military preparations are already taking place. Last week in the Dail the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, indicated that he had already initiated consultations to see how the State could contribute to the OSCE mission.
The Defence Forces already have considerable experience serving in the Balkans region. Some 73 members of the Defence Forces are there, 50 of them serving in a military police unit in Sarajevo with the NATO-led Sfor (Stability Force in former Yugoslavia).
Another seven Irish military personnel are serving as observers with the UN in the region, nine are serving with the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM) and another seven are already serving on OSCE missions.
The Defence Forces also maintain a permanent staff of two senior officers at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna.
According to an agreement reached with Yugoslavia, the OSCE verification mission will have 2,000 unarmed observers deployed in Kosovo. The first 150 are expected to arrive in two weeks. Countries including Sweden and Britain are expected to make substantial contributions to the mission.
Members of an OSCE technical team in charge of preparing deployment of the verification mission are already in Kosovo.
A member of an advance party which arrived at the weekend said the mission "will not confront or try to penetrate into an area that is insecure, where there is any kind of hostile action or an immediate danger of hostile action".