Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 113: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of personnel from his Department and from the Defence Forces who attended a seminar and meeting organised by his Department at a four star hotel in County Kildare on 13 November 2008; the cost of conducting the meeting; the purpose of the meeting; if in the context of the budget 2009 constraints he considers such a venue and expenditure appropriate; if suitable facilities exist within a military installation for holding such meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42805/08]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Defence Organisation conference was held on the 13th November 2008 and was attended by the senior management teams in both the Department and the Defence Forces. The focus of the conference was on effective planning. The topics covered were defence capability development, performance measurement and effective management of the defence budget within the current resource constraints. A guest speaker from the European Union Institute for Security Studies also made a key contribution to the event.

The conference was very much a collaborative effort between the Department and the Defence Forces and I know that both the Secretary General and the Chief of Staff are extremely pleased with the outcome. It is envisaged that a similar joint development conference will take place on an annual basis. The cost of the conference amounted to €2,720. I firmly believe that this pro-active approach to developing capacity in the Defence organisation remains a priority notwithstanding the current economic climate.