The Chief-of-Staff of the Defence Forces has proposed that the Army's role in support of the Garda Siochana, including in Border areas, be wound down in line with the reduced security risk to the State so that soldiers can return to a "more traditional" military role.
At the annual conference of the staff association representing the 2,000 officers in the Defence Forces, Lieut Gen Dave Stapleton also expressed support for Ireland's participation in a European defence structure.
His views on joining a European or NATO-affiliated defence structure were endorsed by the Representative Association for Commissioned Officers (RACO).
In his address to delegates yesterday, the Chief-of-Staff said the "daily grind" of performing checkpoint and other duties in support of gardai was sapping morale.
He said: "I remember when the `Aid to the Civil Power' (ATCP) operation commenced in earnest in the early 1970s. The general feeling among officers at that time was that this was not the Defence Forces' job. This was not soldiering, and young men join the Defence Forces to soldier.
"I agree with this sentiment, and the sooner we can withdraw from the ATCP role the better. But we will always respond to requests for military forces.
"I believe a good deal of our morale problem lies in the fact that the daily grind, daily routines of ATCP operations, saps the enthusiasm and focus of our soldiers."
His view on the strategic direction of the Defence Forces was that their future lay in Europe.
He added: "We will continue to support the United Nations and operate under the UN Charter, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that future peacekeeping and support missions will be fronted by organisations such as OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe), PfP (the NATO affiliate, Partnership for Peace) and WEU (the Western European Union).
"We cannot be far distant from a commitment to one or other of these organisations."
Lieut Gen Stapleton said that if the Defence Forces were to take part in a European army, then they would need intensive, focused training. In reply to the Chief-of-Staff's speech, the RACO general secretary, Cmdt Brian O'Keeffe, said the Defence Forces suffered from "shattered" morale which, among officers, often resulted from refusal by management to negotiate changes on issues from barracks closures to the exclusion of the Defence Forces' representative associations from national pay agreements.
"When you add to this the massive impact on the self-esteem of the members of the Forces of the hearing claims debacle, the result is an organisation whose morale is shattered."
Cmdt O'Keeffe agreed with the Chief-of-Staff on the issue of military participation in a European army. He said: "It has been clear for quite some time now that the manner in which the overseas missions are organised and controlled is changing.
"Increasingly, organisations such as NATO will control missions on behalf of the UN. This association is greatly concerned that if Ireland continues to remain outside the Partnership for Peace arrangement, we will eventually be excluded from participation in major peacekeeping missions. Joint PfP poses no threat to our neutral status. No joining poses a serious threat to our continued involvement in international peacekeeping."