Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

1. In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “Amendment of Section 17 of Principal Act

6. The Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 17:

“Command of Defence Forces

17. Command of the Defence Forces is exercisable as follows:

(a) the supreme command of the Defence Forces vested in the President is exercisable by him or her on the advice of the Government;

(b) under the supreme command of the President and subject to the provisions of this Act, command of the Defence Forces is exercisable by the Government and, subject to such exceptions and limitations as the Government may from time to time determine, by the Minister;

(c) subject to and in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b), the Chief of Staff shall carry on and manage and control generally the staff, administration and business of the Defence Forces;

(d) Defence Forces Headquarters, the head of which is the Chief of Staff, ceases to stand established in the Department of Defence and instead stands established within the Defence Forces;

(e) the Chief of Staff is the accounting officer in relation to the appropriation accounts of the Defence Forces for the purposes of the Comptroller and Auditor General Acts 1866 to 1998.”.”.

I welcome the Tánaiste to the House and thank him for bringing this Bill for our consideration.

The new section we seek to implement is about whether one wants the separation of powers between the Department and the Defence Forces per se. There has long been allegations and suggestions that there is a toxic relationship between uniformed and non-uniformed personnel. If we look at An Garda Síochána, the Commissioner is the Accounting Officer for An Garda Síochána. As such, he has the administrative rights over his organisation. The amendment is to restructure the command of the Defence Forces. I know the Tánaiste brought a change to the structures of the Defence Forces yesterday, which will be extremely welcome. I believe the Chief of Staff needs to be autonomous in the role, whoever he or she may be. That person would have the accounting function within the organisation at their disposal and as such, would be able to act immediately. In recent times, we have seen ridiculous decisions. What used to be a battalion commander's decision back in my day now has to go to the Department for sanction, such as the loan of a tent for a local community and stuff like that. This particular amendment would give the Defence Forces that degree of autonomy that they would be able to operate without constantly going back to the Department. I ask Senators to consider this amendment seriously.