Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore has said the further militarisation of Syria would not be helpful.
Speaking at an EU foreign ministers meeting in Dublin to discuss arming the rebels in Syria, he said more arms would mean more casualties.
Two years into Syria's conflict, the European Union is divided on how it should respond.
France and the UK want the EU to lift an arms embargo to allow weapons to be supplied to rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
Other European governments disagree, because they fear an arms race that would lead to greater instability.
The ministers are holding talks at Dublin Castle over the next two days.
It is an informal meeting, so no conclusions will be adopted afterwards.
However, there is significant pressure for EU governments to arm the rebels, and diplomats should be in a position to flag any imminent change in policy.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has said there is a strong case for the embargo to be lifted.
He said his French counterpart has a similar view and said it is an option for the UK and France to "go it alone", but he said the emphasis was to agree a consensus in the EU.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said he was cautious about lifting the embargo.
He said while he was open to compromise, he was against proliferation and against the use of weapons by extremists.
Arriving for the meeting, the Austrian foreign minister said he was not in favour of lifting the embargo.
Michael Spindelegger said more weapons in Syria would not bring about peace, but an escalation in violence.
The meeting comes as the Syrian president vowed to rid the country of Muslim extremists, whom he blamed for a suicide bombing that killed 42 people yesterday.
The explosion ripped through a mosque in the heart of Damascus in what was the first time a suicide bomber struck inside a mosque.
Top Sunni preacher Sheikh Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Buti, who was a staunch supporter of Mr Assad, was among the dead.
In the statement carried by Syria's state news agency, Mr Assad said Mr Buti represented true Islam in facing "the forces of darkness and extremist" ideology.
He said his forces would "wipe out" and "clean our country" of the attackers.
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