Dr. Mark Mellett:

On the matter of defence spending, it is not in my area of competence. I am not the Accounting Officer. There was a White Paper process in 2015 in which this was dealt with in detail. It set out the governance arrangements within the defence organisation. In fairness to the Secretary General, I would not like to be reflecting on his part of the ship. What I can say is that I have never met a Chief of Staff who could not make a case for more resources. From having mixed with my colleagues in Europe, I am aware they will always be able to make a case for more resources. However, my priority is to ensure the resources allocated are used in a manner that achieves value for money and maximises the capability we develop with them.

In recent years, I am satisfied that, at the end of the year, the resources that have been allocated have been exploited to the fullest. I will continue to support and ensure we have projects related to our capabilities, which are identified in the White Paper, that are prioritised in terms of a timeline and can be delivered within the accounting year with a view to expenditure of the funds.

Governance within the Department of Defence is a matter for Government and how the Minister allocates between the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. I am quite happy, if required, to make recommendations to the Minister of State and I do that. It is my responsibility to give the Minister advice on aspects that I feel the Defence Forces can be more streamlined in their capacity to work within the defence organisation. I have done that verbally and I will continue to do it in the future.

On the submission to the public sector, my point is that I am standing behind a submission that is made. It provides the basis for an engagement with the Public Service Pay Commission. I now have a responsibility to seek further opportunities in terms of advocacy to give the narrative from my perspective.

The Defence Forces are unique institutions, they are not like other parts of the public sector. Our members are subject to military law. They will not, and cannot, join a union. They will not strike. They will be subject to unlimited liability and that is the very reason I remember, during Storm Emma recently, that when the instruction from Government was that all personnel were to be off the streets by 4 p.m. on that particular day, the people who were out operating and supporting other primary response agencies were the Defence Forces. They were bringing patients for dialysis, they were working with the ESB and towing ESB vehicles to transformers to keep power going. The ability of the Defence Forces, across the spread, was remarkable. The ability to do this is often honed in very challenging environments overseas. This is the proof of the capabilities that we develop working with others internationally being brought to bear domestically when there is a time of crisis relating to, in that case, a climate event.