Members of the Defence Forces have criticised the Government over what they say is a near 50 per cent decline in Defence Forces expenditure since the mid-1990s as a proportion of gross domestic product.
They have warned Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea that he will need to secure additional funding if Ireland is to honour its growing international peacekeeping obligations.
Simon Devereux, deputy general secretary of the Defence Forces' staff representative association, Pdforra, said Mr O'Dea must act now to safeguard the preparedness of troops serving on overseas missions.
"I am concerned to learn that the defence spend has essentially halved in the past 10 years when related to GDP," he said at the opening in Athlone last night of Pdforra's three-day annual conference.
"It has fallen from 1.3 per cent of GDP to 0.7 per cent. This level of expenditure places us firmly at the bottom of the EU defence spend league table."
"We note the Government's decision which will ensure that we will play our part in the EU battlegroups. But we would be concerned that these commitments will be met on the cheap. I appreciate that there has been a significant investment on equipment. However, the underlying investment in the Defence Forces is very worrying. The figures speak for themselves."
Currently Ireland's annual defence budget is just over €900 million, of which around €740 million is spent directly on the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service.
Some 750 Irish troops, from a total of 10,500, are currently on overseas duties in Liberia, Kosovo and Bosnia and on a number of other smaller missions.
The Government is currently considering plans to commit 120 Irish troops to the EU battlegroups, 1,500-strong international rapid reaction forces which would be available for short-notice deployment to trouble spots around the world.
Mr Devereux said that before Ireland could join this force significant expenditure was required on equipment such as small tanks and armoured personnel carriers.