The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, says he has complained twice in recent weeks to senior Army officers about a briefing and leaking campaign he believes is being run against him by the Defence Forces.
Mr Smith told The Irish Times yesterday that, at two meetings, he left the Chief of Staff and his two deputies "in no doubt as to my feelings on what was going on". For the Defence Forces to be openly fighting a PR battle against the Government was "not the way to do business". He said he was "throwing out a warning for the future" about this.
Mr Smith claimed yesterday that the Defence Forces were "lobbying TDs, contacting the media and saying things about me" in an effort to get their way over the controversial White Paper published last week.
A leaked Department of Defence memo also criticises the behaviour of the leaders of the Defence Forces.
Mr Smith confirmed that his view was the same as that expressed in the leaked memo, that in their PR campaign against the White Paper "the leaders of the Defence Forces responded with a ruthless and skilful subterranean campaign to thwart their democratically elected superior". This was not language he would choose, he said, but it reflected his view.
Relations between the Defence Forces and top officials in the Department of Defence remain at their lowest -point after a further series of leaks and recriminations over the weekend concerning the White Paper.
Senior Department officials are furious at what they believe was a successful behind-the-scenes Defence Forces' campaign both to have parts of the White Paper changed, and then to claim credit for the changes for the Chief of Staff. At the weekend, an internal Department of Defence memo was published in the Examiner, belittling the changes won by the Defence Forces and stating that the concessions to the Chief of Staff were simply a "figleaf". This document is believed to have been written by a senior official, but, according to Mr Smith, the "figleaf" suggestion about the concessions does not represent his view.
The memo says: "Although trumpeted everywhere as a major concession, in effect this supposed agreement is something of a chimera which evaporates under careful scrutiny; in truth a figleaf to cover the Chief of Staff's retreat from an increasingly untenable position.
"The spoils of victory claimed by the military comprise a loosely worded document which does little more than restate what is already in the White Paper, with a few routine administrative adjustments thrown in for padding," the memo says.
Ten days ago Mr Smith and the Chief of Staff, Lieut Gen David Stapleton, agreed a number of changes to Government plans for the Defence Forces in an effort to end the bitter disagreement over the White Paper. The Chief of Staff was given the right to advertise for new recruits without reference to the Department, 250 extra recruits were to be allowed and a number of other administrative changes were to be made. It was also agreed that no further troop cuts would be proposed for at least a decade.
The Defence Forces believe this document contains a number of important concessions which helped to end the public row over the White Paper.
Mr Smith and his officials are deeply annoyed at a number of newspaper stories published during the negotiations about the White Paper. Two earlier drafts of the document were leaked, as was a copy of a compromise agreement reached between Mr Smith and Lieut Gen Stapleton.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces said yesterday that they "are not interested in raking over old sores. We don't believe it serves the Defence Forces' or the nation's interests. A Government decision has been made and the Defence Forces will move forward and implement that Government decision."