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Leo Varadkar and Theresa May, seen here in Brussels in October, spoke on the telephone on Monday
The idea of a time-limited backstop after Brexit has been ruled out by the Irish prime minister.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he "can not countenance" the idea of an expiry date and such a deal would not be "worth the paper it's written on".
His comments follow reports that the UK wants the unilateral right to end the backstop with three months' notice.
The backstop is an arrangement that applies if the Irish border can not be kept frictionless as part of a deal.
Mr Varadkar said he expected the British government to stick to the commitments it made to the EU last December for a legally-enforceable backstop to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
During the conversation on Monday, he told UK Prime Minister Theresa May that he would consider a "review mechanism" of the backstop.
He also said that the outcome of a review could be considered unilaterally to the backstop.
"He recalls the prior commitments made that the backstop must apply 'unless and until' alternative arrangements are agreed," an Irish government spokeswoman said.
At Downing Street spokesperson said: "They agreed that the backstop should only be a temporary arrangement and that the best solution to the Northern Ireland would be agreed by the UK and the EU.
"In order to ensure that the backstop, if ever needed, would be temporary, the prime minister said that there would be a mechanism through which the backstop could be brought to an end."
'Commitments'
The Daily Telegraph reported that the Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab made the time-limited proposal to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in London last week.
The UK's Department for Exiting the European Union said: "We would not comment on private meetings."
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Reuters
Mr Coveney's tweet was retweeted by the EU's deputy chief negotiator
However, Mr Coveney also insisted that such an arrangement would not be agreed by the Irish government or the EU.
In a tweet on Monday, Mr Coveney said: "The Irish position remains a long time ago and has a backstop that could not be agreed by Ireland or EU.
"These ideas are not backstop at all and do not deliver on previous UK commitments."
Sabine Weyand, who is tweeted, "still necessary to repeat this, it seems".
Mr Varadkar was asked about the proposal on Monday as he watched the launch of a new social housing development in Dublin.
He described the UK as a "divided kingdom", which he said has not helped the negotiation process.
"The UK in many ways is a divided country, the people are split 50/50 over whether they want to leave the European Union or not," he said.
"The cabinet is divided, the government is divided, Parliament is divided, and that has made it very difficult to come to an agreement.
"I'd rather have a united kingdom, a united country, to be our partner in these negotiations, but we do not, so we have to work through."
Last week, Mr Varadkar said Brexit was fraying relations between Ireland and Britain.
Both the EU and UK have agreed to the need for a backstop, but not how it should operate.
The EU has proposed a backstop that would mean Northern Ireland staying in the EU customs union, large parts of the single market and the EU VAT system.
The UK government has submitted a threat to the integrity of the UK.
It has been suggested that a backstop would be able to see the EU as a whole, possibly for a limited time.
