Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 639: To ask the Minister for Defence the annual saving to the Exchequer if all board members' fees paid to agencies under his aegis were cut by 25%, 35% and 50%. [36617/12]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 640: To ask the Minister for Defence the annual saving to the Exchequer if the pay of all CEOs of State agencies under his aegis were capped at €100,000. [36633/12]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 646: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will provide a list of State agencies under his aegis; and the annual cost of each agency to the Exchequer. [36729/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 639, 640 and 646 together.

The Boards under the aegis of my Department are the Civil Defence Board and the Army Pensions Board.

There is no remuneration attached to membership of the Civil Defence Board.

The Army Pensions Board is an independent statutory body established under the Army Pensions Act, 1927. The Act specifies that the Board shall consist of a chairman and two ordinary members. The two ordinary members must be qualified medical practitioners of whom one must be an officer of the Army Medical Corps. The chairman and the non military ordinary member are appointed by the Minister for Defence with the concurrence of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Army Medical Corps ordinary member is appointed by the Minister for Defence on the recommendation of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. The chairperson and the civilian doctor are entitled to annual fees of €7,618 and €5,079 respectively.

The annual savings to the Exchequer if the annual fees paid to members of the Army Pensions Board were cut by the percentages outlined by the Deputy are as follows:

The Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Defence Board is a serving civil servant at Principal Officer grade. The relevant payscale for this grade does not exceed €100,000 and therefore the question of capping the CEO's pay at €100,000 does not arise.

The published Estimates for 2012 include a provision of €103,000 for the Army Pensions Board and a provision of €5.585m for the Civil Defence Board.

Legislation is currently being drafted to dissolve the Civil Defence Board and transfer the functions of the Board back into the Department of Defence.