Sinn Féin has lashed out at Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael claiming neither party can be trusted on Irish neutrality.
It says it is clear that an EU Army is being created and the EU Defence Fund will help bring that about.
The party's MEP for Dublin, Lynn Boylan, says 'if it talks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it is a duck'.
She says the Irish people have already chosen to support positive neutrality and the country's long history of UN peacekeeping.
Ms Boylan said: "What you find is that the Irish people are incredibly proud of the peacekeeping role that our Defence Forces have played.
"And that they [the public] would much rather that the Government pay [the Defence Forces] appropriately.
"That they're not being forced into poverty which is the current situation with our Defence Forces. And that they continue to carry out peacekeeping duties."
In a statement on the party's website, Ms Boylan says Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael "want further integration and further militarisation and their groups in the EU Parliament are strong supporters of an EU Army".
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael say they support neutrality but every single thing they have done for decades proves the exact opposite. "
She added that it "is clear that an EU Army is being created and they are putting an EU defence fund of €13bn in place to help bring it about.
"They are not in the real world. They cannot be trusted to defend Irish neutrality because when it really matters – they don’t support it."
