Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is what I understand. Under the Defence Act 1954, the military command of, and all executive and administrative powers in respect of, the Defence Forces, including the power to delegate command and authority, are exercisable by the Government through and by the Minister for Defence. In other words, officers exercise military command through the delegated command authority of the Minister. One might wonder why the Minister could not then make a delegation order to cover this point. As far as I understand it, the answer seems to be that this is about the exercise of command within an international contingent rather than command over domestic forces, even domestic forces serving abroad. One presumes such a contingent would be a hybrid force comprising Irish and non-Irish troops. The new section would permit the Minister to delegate a limited degree of control and authority, defined in the Bill as "operational control", over a Defence Forces contingent deployed as part of an international force. That authority would be delegated to the force commander of that force. I believe the point is that the force commander need not necessarily be an officer of the Irish Defence Forces. Is that the case?

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