Members of An Garda Síochána are to receive training from FBI agents in best practice when searching for missing persons. Ireland's participation in an international website for missing children is also being considered.
The Irish officers will also take part in a six-week exchange programme with their New York counterparts, during which they will receive ongoing missing persons training.
The development comes after a campaign by the Kilkenny TD Mr John McGuinness (FF) and Ms Mary Phelan, the sister of missing woman Jo Jo Dullard.
Garda will be trained how to use technology used by the US authorities to produce photos showing how missing persons would look in the years after their disappearance.
They will also be encouraged by the FBI to treat missing persons inquiries as murder investigations from an early stage. In the US, officers gather evidence as they would in a murder inquiry, and are in a position to pursue prosecutions if the remains of a missing person are found.
Mr McGuinness and Ms Phelan went to the United States earlier this year on a fact-finding mission. They visited a number of centres in Washington and New York that specialise in tracing missing persons.
They also met staff at the FBI-run International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/564969e4-d81d-474d-b348-d41dfe1aeced.png)