The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces has said that in future there will no place for soldiers who are not willing to do overseas duty.
Lieut Gen Jim Sreenan said the Government had decided to relax regulations within the Defence Forces which stipulated that any member failing to win promotion in their first 12 years of service would not be offered a new contract.
However, the Chief of Staff warned that new terms would be offered to "contract soldiers" only on the basis that those involved agree to serve on missions overseas.
He told delegates yesterday, on the second day of the annual conference in Athlone of the Defence Forces staff representative association, Pdforra, that overseas missions to such places as Liberia were now a central element of the State's foreign policy. The burden of these missions must be shared by all.
"In examining the issue of contract soldiers recently, I was both surprised and disappointed by the lack of overseas service of many personnel wishing to be re-engaged in the Defence Forces," he said of a 240-strong group nearing the end of their initial 12-year contracts.
Overseas missions were becoming more demanding, but training had been greatly improved so that troops would also be able to deal with the "unexpected".
The international group currently being led by the Irish in Liberia had been identified by the UN as a 'best practice' deployment, which should be replicated on other missions.
Of an 8,500-strong standing Army, 750 personnel now serve overseas, mainly with the UN in Liberia, Kosovo and Bosnia. The Government is considering committing to new EU battle groups which would see 120 troops deployed into a 1,500-strong international rapid-reaction force.
Lieut Gen Sreenan said the procurement programme in the Defence Forces in recent years meant Ireland was now in a position to play a full role in international peacekeeping.
Pdforra general secretary Gerry Rooney said while the Irish troops in Liberia had been voted by the country's leading paper as "peace contingent of the year", much progress needed to be made before the Army could commit to EU battle groups.
The planning of training and overseas deployment was poor. Different sections in some Army units often did not communicate with each other, and this resulted in a situation where personnel did not know what duties they would be expected to perform in certain periods. This created difficulties for "work-life balance".