Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

It is important to acknowledge that the Defence Forces has been one of the success stories of public service reform. The structures, roles and reporting arrangements of organisations differ from the management of defence. I would like to reflect briefly on the difference between the Garda and the Defence Forces, although we do not have much time. The Department of Defence, with a Minister as head, has a civil and military element. The civil element is headed by the Secretary General and the military element by the Chief of Staff. The relationships among the Chief of Staff, the Secretary General and the Minister are established in the Defence Acts. The Secretary General is the Minister's principal policy adviser and he or she is also the Accounting Officer. Day-to-day operational control of the Defence Forces rests with the Chief of Staff, for which he or she is directly responsible to the Minister. Effective operation of this structure is critical to the management of defence. This pragmatic and balanced legal framework operates to maximise the efficacy of defence provision. It respects the role of the Chief of Staff and the overarching principle of ensuring civil control of the military.

The arrangements in the Garda Síochána and the HSE are presumably appropriate to their respective roles, relationships and structures. I am aware the Garda Commissioner, as the Deputy said, performs the role of Accounting Officer for the Garda, reporting to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform through the Secretary General of the Department. It would be unwise to assume that this could be applied to the benefit of the defence organisation. It is a different scenario. We have had many debates about semi-State bodies and the need for ministerial accountability but this has worked well for the Defence Forces. We will continue to improve management as required.

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