Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the matters pertaining to the Defence Forces, on the suggestion made in the media that the personnel who had been part of the guard of honour at the funeral of the former Taoiseach, Mr. Albert Reynolds, had had to borrow or swap uniforms, both the Minister and, more importantly, the Chief of Staff and the officer in command have indicated that that was the first they had heard of it. I attended the funeral ceremonies and I was very close to the graveside. I thought the soldiers who took part in the guard of honour and the ceremonies at the graveside were extraordinarily well turned out and behaved. They were present both on the evening before and the morning of the funeral and deserve to be complimented, particularly given the monsoon-style rain. I am a little surprised at people in PDFORRA because I know from my own contacts with family members in the military how proud people are of our soldiers and the work they do in performing ceremonial duties, including guards of honour.

On soldiers sleeping in cars, as the Deputy will know because there is a significant Army presence in his constituency, if for whatever reason members of the Defence Forces are is distress, the normal process in each barracks is to approach senior officers or NCOs.

They would find a supportive response. I do not know the circumstances of the cases described. The defence (amendment) Bill will be taken next year. In regard to the memo for Government, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, has asked that within a relatively short period of time each Department will identify the State boards under its remit, which is contained on the website of most Departments, and will set out the skill sets required for each board. The matter will then return to Government for further discussion and there is also the further development of the website in respect of people applying for State board positions. Various State boards are administered by individual Acts that relate to the company. In regard to legislation, some provisions are already laid down. It is for Ministers to describe the skill sets required. That is the first step and each Minister has been asked to do so in conjunction with various boards and the potential appointments within the remit.

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