The new Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces has said if he could have three well-equipped infantry brigades by the time he left, he would be a "very happy man". Speaking to reporters at his first official function - the cadet commissioning ceremony in the Naval Base at Haulbowline, Co Cork, yesterday - Lieut Gen David Stapleton said there was now a greater impetus in terms of the Defences Forces Implementation Plan.
Commenting on remarks made by his predecessor, Lieut Gen Gerry McMahon, in The Irish Times yesterday in relation to the slow pace of change, Gen Stapleton said the Defence Forces represented a bureaucracy after all.
"This change is taking a bit of a bashing but since I came home the impetus, the speed have increased and the frustrations have to a greater extent disappeared because staff can see the commitment now," Gen Stapleton said. He returned recently from duty as force commander of the UN Disengagement Observer Force, monitoring the Golan Heights.
"I'll have to go out on the command and speak to people, but having been in Collins Barracks, Cork, this morning, and having spoken to the Minister [Mr Smith] about the pace of change at the Curragh, he is very encouraged. I must say I'm looking forward to the next two years, because there seems to be finance available, in spite of the Army hearing issue."
Gen Stapleton also said he favoured the compensation tribunal route for dealing with Army hearing claims. Commenting on neutrality, he favoured greater involvement with the UN. "The UN is still a strong force, and is still the way for us to go. Our reputation is second to none in the UN."
On membership of the Partnership for Peace, he said this was a matter for Government to decide. "The military are very keen as military men to go and work with other people and the PFP is one way of doing that."