Máirín Quill
Question:9 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Defence whether he has established a policy development unit within his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Departmental Policy Development Unit.
While the organisation and planning unit of the department is primarily concerned with policy issues, the position is that all branches in the Department are involved in policy development in one form or another.
Recent examples of issues involving policy development are the setting up of conciliation and arbitration schemes for military personnel following the establishment of representative associations for them; developments in overseas missions under the aegis of the United Nations; and, as just announced, the projected radical overhaul of the structure and organisation of the Defence Forces on the basis of an up-dated statement of roles.
Major policy inputs are required in these and many other areas of the Department's branches on an ongoing basis.