Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea briefed European colleagues today on plans to send up to 400 Irish troops to eastern Chad.
Mr O'Dea is attending a meeting of foreign, defence and development ministers in Brussels that is discussing the EU mission to the region.
The Government is expected to make a decision tomorrow on the proposed deployment Irish troops as part of that EU mission.
It follows a visit to the region by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern last week, during which he discussed the mission with government officials in Chad and Sudan.
If approved by the Dáil, the Irish deployment will form the second largest component of the UN-mandated EU force. France is contributing more than half of the 4,300 troops charged with facilitating humanitarian access and protecting Darfuri refugees and displaced Chadians living in camps in eastern Chad.
A major humanitarian crisis has unfolded in the area in recent years due to a spilling over of the conflict in the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan.
Local ethnic and tribal tensions have also contributed to the unrest, as have the actions of various militias and bandit groups from both sides of the Chad-Sudan border.
The Brussels meeting was also due to discuss the situations in Pakistan, Kosovo and Iran.
Mr Ahern today urged European governments to supply much-needed transport for thousands of troops on a humanitarian mission to central Africa.
Some 20 helicopters needed to move soldiers and supplies over an area the size of France have not been provided.
"The EU force cannot succeed without proper resources. There is a clear and overwhelming humanitarian need for their deployment," the minister said.
"Either we do the mission properly and fully resource it or not at all. The question on the lips of those unfortunate people in the Chad camps was why is it taking so long to have the troops on the ground."
Mr Ahern spent four days in Sudan and Chad last week to see first hand the scale of the humanitarian mission.
Only three helicopters are on the ground at present, with French peacekeepers insisting 20 are needed to support troops in the region.
The Eufor Chad/Car force will include around 4,300 military personnel from France, Sweden, Poland, Finland and Ireland. Deployment will begin next month with the bulk of personnel due to be deployed during January.
Mr Ahern said the environment where the troops would be located was one of the harshest in the world.
"The EU force will be based in stark terrain and in temperatures that can reach 45c. When I was there last Friday the temperature was over 40c," he said.
"The mission will be a success but only as long as it gets the full support of member states and that will involve ensuring the troops have the medical supplies, hardware and in particular helicopters to get around.
"There are no roads to speak of and travel overland can be very time consuming and, in some instances, dangerous."
Additional reporting: PA