New procedures were needed for dealing with minor disciplinary matters in the Defence Forces other than full-scale courts martial, the Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, has said.

The need for new procedures was clear from the three-day court martial of Army Commandant Tony Byrne at the Curragh, he said.

"It is indefensible that five senior Army officers, together with ancillary Defence Forces personnel, as well as the judge-advocate and a team of barristers should have been involved in a full-scale court martial extending over the past three days on such a relatively minor matter.

"In every other walk of life, there were informal procedures for dealing with such matters. Notwithstanding the particular requirements of discipline in the military, it was time the Defence Forces dragged themselves into the 20th century and devised new methods for dealing with such matters."