A senior Air Corps officer who publicly criticised the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, at an awards ceremony at which the Minister was officiating, may face disciplinary action.
The Defence Forces Chief of Staff took the unusual step of issuing a statement apparently contradicting points made by the officer, Comdt Aidan Flanagan, at the Irish Security Industry Awards on Wednesday.
Comdt Flanagan had criticised the Minister because of what he said was Government inaction over the future of the search-and-rescue helicopter fleet and staff levels in the Air Corps. The commandant is officer commanding of the corps' helicopter wing.
His remarks at a public ceremony, at which he was receiving a bravery award on behalf of the Air Corps Search and Rescue wing, are said to have caused embarrassment to the Minister and anger among senior ranks in the Defence Forces.
Although the military staff associations, like their police counterparts, are often critical of government in statements and at their annual conferences, it is rare for a serving officer to express such sentiments.
Yesterday the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Air Corps, Brig Gen Pat Cranfield, was summoned to produce a "full and detailed report" to the Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) at Defence Forces Headquarters in Dublin.
A Defence Forces spokesman said last night that when the report was presented the military would consider a "course of action that could include disciplinary action".
In his statement yesterday the Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieut Gen David Stapleton, said he regretted the remarks had been made.
Referring to Comdt Flanagan's suggestion of "inaction" over staff and the provision of aircraft, he said he was still awaiting proposals from the Air Corps about certain staffing issues. These included the scheme for the retention of aircraft pilots who were being attracted out of the Air Corps to better-paid jobs in the private sector.
On the provision of aircraft, he said the Air Corps had only recently forwarded an implementation to the Minister after a year of deliberation with military management.