The Green Party and Amnesty International called yesterday on the Government to introduce a more transparent system to scrutinise exports of software and components to the defence industry.
The proposals follow a decision by the Government that the technology firm HP did not illegally export software, which was used ultimately to monitor nuclear weapons.
The Department of the Tánaiste ordered the investigation last year following claims that HP's supercomputer team based in Galway was exporting software that had a specific military purpose, without the correct export licence.
In an interview with The Irish Times last year the director of the high performance computing team in Galway, Mr Mark Gantly, confirmed the team was developing technology that would monitor stockpiles of nuclear weapons for the US government.
However, it emerged subsequently that HP had not received a military export licence from the Department of the Tánaiste, required under Irish law for firms that export technology for military use.
A spokesman for the Tánaiste said yesterday the investigation found HP exported generic software that could be used in a range of applications and therefore did not require an export licence.
He said the investigation also found HP Galway had exported the technology to its parent firm in the US.
HP said it had received notification from the Department that it was fully compliant with its regulations.
However, Amnesty described the results of the internal inquiry yesterday as "mind-boggling", and accused the Government of hiding behind generic technology descriptions.
Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said the Government had a moral responsibility to ensure Irish technology was not used for military purposes. The Government must be wary of becoming complicit in the arms trade, he added.