The association for commissioned officers in the Defence Forces, RACO, has said the military medical system is in a state of virtual collapse because it cannot attract and retain medical professionals.
At their delegate conference in Kilkenny, the association called for radical solutions to overcome the problem of insufficient doctors, dentists and other professionals.
RACO says there is provision for up to 50 doctors in the forces, but at the moment there are only about 20. A number of these are away on overseas duties at any time.
The association says only one Irish doctor has been recruited in the past five years, largely because of poor pay relative to other grades in the public service.
Only about 50% of the doctors are currently Irish, with the remainder being East European.
Lt Col Adrian Ryan wants the service to be run by up to 20 qualified specialists on higher salaries, with the remainder of the care to be provided by medical practitioners on a contractual basis.
