Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----from the early 20th century right through. We can be well enlightened by what happened in the 1920s. We had the Army mutiny later. It was Kevin O'Higgins who laid down the essential principle that those who wear the uniform of the State serve the State. We will deal with that later in other aspects of this legislation. There are fundamental principles but, obviously, the passage of time has necessitated a change. The Deputy should feel free to make a submission to us in respect of how he thinks the architecture should be designed.

In the context of the Commission on the Defence Forces, a lot of work was done internationally on what is the norm in many other countries in the relationship between departments and militaries and in the command and control structure. I see it as the most fundamental piece of reform we can do because out of that will flow many other issues the current structures perhaps do not enable to be dealt with properly.