The UK will reportedly offer Ireland 3.7 million vaccine doses in a bid to help lift lockdown in Northern Ireland.
The country's foreign minister Dominic Raab, Brexit adviser and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove and NI secretary Brandon Lewis have had "outline discussions" about such a plan, according to the Sunday Times.
It adds that the move could raise tensions with the European Union, which has had a slower rollout of jabs, as it could disrupt the unity of the bloc.
However, UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden this morning said the UK does not "currently have a surplus" of coronavirus vaccines to give out.
He told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "Clearly, our first priority is ensuring we deliver vaccines in the United Kingdom.
"We clearly don't currently have a surplus of vaccines, should we get to the point where we have a surplus of vaccines we'd make decisions on the allocation of that surplus."
The Irish Government has said it is not aware of a specific UK plan to share vaccines with Ireland.
Responding to the report, a spokesman for the Irish Government said: "The UK has previously indicated that once it has achieved a high level of vaccination of its own population, it would consider sharing vaccines with other countries.
"We are not aware of any specific plans to share vaccines with Ireland at this stage.
"The Irish and UK governments maintain close contact across all matters of common interest."
DUP leader and NI First Minister Arlene Foster believes the British government should share any spare jabs once it has finished its rollout.
RTE reports that she recommended as much to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he visited Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh this month.
Mrs Foster expressed confidence it "hopefully will happen".
She said sharing excess supply with the Irish Republic was important in respect of being good neighbours but also because it would have a practical impact in Northern Ireland in terms of the region's exit from lockdown.
"I think it is a runner," Mrs Foster told RTE.
"When I'm next speaking to him (Mr Johnson) I'll be making that point again.
"I think it's important that we continue the conversation and I'll be listening very carefully to what our medical advisers are saying about the rollout of the vaccine in Northern Ireland, where it is in the Republic of Ireland and what that means for both jurisdictions."
The DUP leader added: "I think it's the right thing that should happen, I think it's a very practical thing to do and I think it should happen and hopefully it will."
New shipments of the vaccine will be welcomed as the Republic currently trails behind the Northern Ireland rollout programme, which has opened jabs to the 50-and-over age group.
825,310 vaccines had been administered in the smaller region of Northern Ireland as of Friday, with just 732,678 doses given out in the Republic as a whole as of last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has promised a shipment of a ‘large volume’ of vaccines to Ireland in the coming weeks.
The pharmaceutical company has promised a shipment of 100,000 vaccines to Ireland next week, as it says it is “overcoming manufacturing problems.”
Ireland is set to receive approximately 827,000 before the end of the first quarter of the year, as part of the purchase agreement between the company and Ireland.
