Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to present this Bill to the Seanad. This is a short technical Bill which provides for the inclusion in the Defence Act 1954 of an appropriate Naval Service rank for the position of Chief of Staff for the Defence Forces. I wish to thank Members of the House for facilitating discussion of all Stages of this Bill today.

Traditionally, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces has assumed the Army rank of Lieutenant General. The Government on 30 June 2015 approved Rear Admiral Mark Mellet's name for approval by the President as the next Chief of Staff from the end of September. Rear Admiral Mellet is the first naval officer to be recommended for appointment by the President as Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces. The commissioned rank of Vice Admiral in the Defence Forces is the equivalent Naval rank to the Army rank of Lieutenant General. The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the rank of Vice Admiral in the Defence Act.

Before dealing with the detailed provisions of the Bill, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Rear Admiral Mellett on his forthcoming appointment. I wish him well in his new challenging role and look forward to working closely with him in the future. I thank Lieutenant General Conor O'Boyle for his distinguished service and important contribution as Chief of Staff in recent years. I also thank him for his sterling service as Deputy Chief of Staff and in many other positions that he held in the Irish Defence Forces. I wish him, and his wife Fionnula, many years of happy retirement.

I will now deal with the detailed provisions of the Bill. Section 1 is a standard definitions section which, in this case, provides definitions for the "Principal Act", being the Defence Act 1954, and the "Act of 1979", being the Defence Act 1979. Section 2 refers to the amendment of section 24 of principal Act. The Second Schedule of the Defence Act 1954 lists in tabular format the commissioned Army and Naval Service ranks in the Defence Forces. At present, there is no equivalent Naval Service rank for the Army rank of Lieutenant General. This section amends section 24(3) of the Defence Act 1954 so as to provide for the inclusion in the Second Schedule of the Act of the equivalent commissioned Naval Service rank, that is, Vice Admiral, for the commissioned Army rank of Lieutenant General.

Section 3 refers to the amendment of the Second Schedule to the principal Act. It inserts, for ease of reference, an amended Second Schedule in the Defence Act 1954 which includes the Naval Service rank of Vice Admiral as the appropriate rank if a Naval Service officer is appointed as Chief of Staff. Section 4 is a standard citation provision. As the Bill will only effect a minor change to the Defence Act 1954, it was considered that pre-legislative scrutiny was not needed in this case.

In conclusion, I am very pleased to submit this legislation for the consideration of the House. I commend the Bill to the House.