The Defence Forces is sending one of its most senior officers to Afghanistan next week on a reconnaissance mission to see how the Army might contribute to the multinational peacekeeping force there.
It is also understood the Defence Forces expects to be ask- ed to provide Ordnance officers to serve with a UN bomb disposal team which, it is hoped, will be allowed into the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The Army's Director of Operations, Col Gerry McNamara, is due to fly to Afghanistan next week on a Royal Air Force flight into Kabul. It is understood he will be accompanied by a senior officer from the Ordnance Corps.
No role for the Defence Forces in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has yet been defined. However, the presence of the Army Ordnance officer suggests that sending a small bomb disposal unit might be under consideration.
The Government has stated that it wishes to see Irish troops involved in the multinational force in Afghanistan. However, it is understood there are concerns among the Defence Forces that a small Irish unit might be particularly vulnerable in the very dangerous conditions in the country.
There has been an increase in fighting in the country and attacks on the international force have increased. Conditions for bomb disposal are said to be particularly dangerous.
Four American, three Danish and two German bomb disposal officers have already been killed and several have been injured. The Danish bomb disposal team members killed in Afghanistan trained with their Irish Ordnance Corps counterparts in the Curragh.
There has been an increase in attacks on ISAF troops amid turbulence surrounding anti-government opposition and fighting by groups involved in opium production and trafficking.
Military sources predict conditions in the country are likely to grow more hostile for the international force as it tries to support the establishment of a government and to stop the opium trade.
If the Government decides against sending a small bomb disposal team it might opt for some form of security element like the small infantry unit of about 40 troops it sent to East Timor two years ago.
Army sources say there should be no problem in supplying bomb disposal officers to serve with a UN mission if it is allowed into Jenin by the Israelis.
The role of sifting through wrecked buildings and disposing of dangerous munitions was one of the key functions carried out by the Irish battalion that served in south Lebanon up to last year. Irish Ordnance officers were frequently called to deal with unexploded munitions following artillery exchanges and aerial bombing by the Israeli Defence Forces.