Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2014
112. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 65 of 20 November 2014 the information requested has not been furnished, in view of the fact that the number of members of the Defence Forces who were retired by the President have been very small and those retired in the interests of the service under section 47(2) even fewer. [47503/14]
View answerI have been advised by the military authorities that an extensive search of the Defence Forces historical archived material across a considerable period of time has been undertaken in an attempt to accurately answer the question which the Deputy asked on 20 November 2014.
The military authorities have advised me that a total of twelve Officers have been retired from the Defence Forces under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1) during the period specified in Parliamentary Question No. 65, the years 1954 to 1985.
Of those twelve Officers, two were recorded as having been retired under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1)(f) “in the interests of the service”.
The other ten Officers were also retired from the Defence Forces under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1). However, the exact sub-paragraph under which they were retired was not recorded in all cases. Therefore, though all ten were retired under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1), it cannot be confirmed which, if any, were under Paragraph 18(1)(f) “in the interests of the service”.
