Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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31. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the details of the division of responsibilities between him and the Minister for State in his Department. [15600/16]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I have been appointed as a Minister of State attending Government and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Defence , with special responsibility for the Department of Defence.

Following this appointment, the Government has made the Defence (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2016 under the Minister and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1977 to delegate ministerial functions to me. Under this Order I now have statutory responsibility for a wide range of Defence matters as specified in the Order. The principal powers delegated include the powers to make regulations under the Defence Acts 1954 to 2015 covering a wide range of Defence matters and personnel-related issues affecting members of the Defence Forces. In addition, Ministerial powers arising under other legislation relating to the Department of Defence have been delegated to me.

On an overall level, primary responsibility for the Department of Defence will rest with An Taoiseach as Minister for Defence, who will remain responsible to Dáil Éireann and as a member of the Government for the exercise and performance of the statutory powers and duties delegated. Every power or duty delegated to me continues to be vested in An Taoiseach as Minister for Defence concurrently with me and may be exercised or performed by either.