The Minister for Defence came under sustained attack from the Opposition last night over his handling of the preparation of the White Paper on the Defence Forces.
A joint Labour-Fine Gael motion, moved in private members' time, condemns Mr Smith, particularly for "the damage caused by his reluctance to engage in a full and meaningful consultative process with senior military personnel, the representative bodies and the FCA". The vote will be taken tonight.
Defending his record, the minister said the motion was "a tired and totally unconvincing attempt to attack a soundly-based approach to defence, because those in opposition have neither the inclination, the imagination, nor the courage to see what needs to be done and see it done". He said an important part of the White Paper process was the consultative element. "The suggestion that the Defence Forces were excluded from the White Paper process is without foundation."
The Labour spokesman on defence, Mr Jack Wall, accused the Minister of turning his back on an unprecedented opportunity to redefine and refocus the role of the Defence Forces. "Instead, he has distorted the White Paper process. Under his tutelage, it has descended into little more than a dictatorial cost-cutting exercise."
Mr Wall said the Minister had insulted and angered the representative bodies by his approach to consultation. "He has undermined, even further, morale in the Defence Forces. His attitude has been directly responsible for the most serious breach of trust between high-ranking military officers and the Department of Defence in living memory."
Describing the White Paper as a "shambles", Mr Wall said it did not have the support of the rankand-file members of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service "who put their lives on the line for this country. It does not deserve the support of this House."
The Fine Gael spokeswoman on defence, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, accused the minister of being responsible for the "worst crisis in the Defence Forces in the history of the State". Never before, she added, had a chief of staff threatened to resign or cut short an important mission abroad in order to return home to defend the future of his Army against the onslaught of an incompetent Minister. It appeared, she said, that a compromise was reached, but the White Paper did not include the agreement made with the chief of staff. "Why publish a White Paper without something that was a key part of the resolution apparently agreed with the chief of staff a few days ago?
"We must also ask ourselves if the compromise reached, but not yet published in full, was the best solution for the future of the Defence Forces, or would it not be much better had a solution been reached after a period of proper consultation with all relevant parties, including the representative associations."
Ms Fitzgerald said that to prepare for the challenges of the new millennium, the Army had in recent years undergone the most radical overhaul since the second World War. The number of personnel had been reduced by up to 40 per cent, a massive cut by any standards. The number of units had decreased by 30 per cent, including a reduction in the number of infantry battalions from 11 to 9.
"The Minister and his Department have had the benefit of numerous reports, including the Price Waterhouse report. The chief of staff and senior personnel have made it abundantly clear that the retention of the current organisation, including three brigades, is the minimum necessary for the ability of the force to fulfil its commitments in the future. That warning should be clearly heeded by the Minister."
Mr John Gormley (Green Party, Dublin South East) said the State should be concentrating on UN peacekeeping. "We have a fantastic record in this regard."