Iodine tablets will be available to households next month as part of an upgrading of the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents, according to the Department of Health and Children.
A spokesman for the Department said a decision had yet to be made on whether the tablets would be posted directly to people's homes or distributed through health boards.
However, he said, "they will be distributed next month".
The move follows last September's controversial radio interview involving the Minister of State for Energy, Mr Joe Jacob, which raised fears over the State's ability to deal with a nuclear emergency.
In the wake of the interview, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, was forced to apologise for incorrectly stating that there were sufficient stocks of tablets for everyone in the State. In fact, some health boards had destroyed stocks after they went out of date.
Iodine tablets can help to prevent the absorption of radioactive iodine by saturating the thyroid gland with what is termed "stable iodine". Their usefulness is limited to children and young adults, according to medical experts, who have also pointed out that such tablets only provide protection from iodine absorption and not other aspects of a nuclear fallout.
Meanwhile, Mr Jacob has conceded that the control centre used for co-ordinating the State's nuclear emergency response was "totally inadequate".
Speaking in the Dáil, he said he would shortly be receiving a report from consultants engaged to review the emergency plan. In the interim, he had received a preliminary draft and was "not at all surprised" to see the consultants proposing the development of a separate control centre to that currently being used at the headquarters of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. "We are looking very seriously at it," he said.
Questioned by Labour TD Mr Emmet Stagg on the consultants' reported recommendation of a five-year training programme for relevant staff, the Minister said he agreed, in the context of what had happened on September 11th, that five years was "far too long".
Mr Jacob added that he was unable to give a date for the publication of a long-awaited public information leaflet outlining what people should do in the case of a nuclear emergency.
Last September, the Minister said that the leaflet would be available to households within weeks.