Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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1384. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the names of the special advisers employed in his department; the names of special advisers to junior ministers in his department; the annual salary of each adviser; if these persons were special advisers immediately prior to taking up their current role or immediately prior to the June 2017 Cabinet reshuffle; if so, the minister to which they were appointed to; the date each special adviser was appointed with effect as stated in the government order; the date of the government order; if they received a salary for the period before the appointment order was signed in the case of special advisers whose appointment order date has an effect date earlier than the order date; if so, by whom they were paid; if a special adviser during a period later backdated by appointment order had access to confidential material and or Cabinet papers; if they were subject to the Official Secrets Act 1963 during this period; if any persons currently employed as special advisers have not yet been appointed by order since the Cabinet reshuffle of 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46465/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The following are details of the advisers employed in my office in the Department of Defence:

These are the only political advisers employed by my Department in the period since 6 May 2016.

Following my re-appointment as Minister of State with Responsibility for Defence on 14 June 2017 both of the advisers listed above continued in the role they had performed prior to that date and were paid by my Department. Their re-appointment as advisers to me was formally confirmed by Government Decision dated 26 July 2017. In the period since they were first appointed both advisers have had access to all material and papers necessary to fulfil their roles. Both have been subject to the Official Secrets Act since they were first appointed in May 2016.