Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will just speak briefly to support the principle of Deputy Howlin's amendment. I agree that the structures are not fit for purpose in any shape or form. They are nearly a century old and definitely need to be reformed for sure. I will also zoom in on Deputy Howlin's point on the Accounting Officer piece. Maybe this is not for today but it is very important to put on the Dáil record that the Garda Commissioner is the Accounting Officer for An Garda Síochána. Similarly, the Chief of Staff for the Defence Forces, or whatever he or she will be called, needs to be the Accounting Officer.

There is another layer of nuance in the Defence group of Votes in that we have two Votes. There is Vote 35, which is wages, salaries and pensions, and Vote 36, which is the operational budget. If we are looking at a happy compromise, perhaps it might be suitable to leave the Department of Defence in charge of Vote 35 and the military in charge of the operational budget, which is Vote 36. That is just food for thought. I agree with Deputy Howlin, and what he is saying is not dissimilar to what the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended, that we have a unified command structure that is a rebalancing of the Defence Forces. It is very Army-led at the moment. There needs to be parity of esteem between the three services and then the structures just need to be revised.

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