It is understood the plan could go to Cabinet as early as Tuesday, with the proposals first due to be raised at a meeting on Monday between Mr Martin, Taoiseach Simon Harris, and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan. 

The radical overhaul was first proposed in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, published in 2023, but comes at a time when the services are under renewed scrutiny following the case of Cathal Crotty, who received a suspended sentence for an attack on Limerick woman Natasha O’Brien.

The new Chief of Defence would replace the existing Chief of Staff position and be supported by a Vice Chief of Defence within a new Defence Forces headquarters.

The army, air corps, and naval service will each have their own headquarters, with an individual service chief running each branch.

It is understood the memo details that the main focus of the plan is to ensure transparency and accountability in the Defence Forces, with the reforms due to bring the military more in line with forces of other democracies.

Under the proposals, the new Chief of Defence would be required to prepare and submit an annual defence plan detailing how the forces are implementing the Government’s priorities on defence matters.

The Council of Defence will be abolished as part of the new legislation, as it has not been convened since the 1980s. Currently, the junior defence minister is a member, but they have no delegated roles on defence matters.

The new Chief of Defence will be directly accountable to the minister for defence, and there will be no structural changes at the existing department.

Government sources insisted the plan was not in response to the Crotty sentencing or other incidents involving members of the Defence Forces that have come to light, and that the seeds were sown after the recommendations within the commission.

Mr Martin said on Friday that his proposals would help “bring about the cultural change” in the Defence Forces. 

The Tánaiste also confirmed last week that any serving member of the Defence Forces would be taken off active service if accused of sexual assault or rape.

It comes after he received a report from Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, which showed that 68 serving members of the Defence Forces have been convicted of a crime in the last three years or are currently before the courts.

Less than a third of these cases have concluded, and most are still before the courts. “Suffice to say that some of the cases are very grave and serious,” he said.

Mr Martin has appointed senior counsel Peter Ward to undertake an independent examination of the administration of such cases by the Defence Forces.