Vol. 396 No. 8
18 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Defence the reason the Army maintain a dual command system; his views on whether it would be more appropriate for a neutral and non-combative nation to rely on one structure; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The position regarding command of the Defence Forces is that the Minister for Defence is authorised by the Government, under the direction of the President, to exercise military command over the Defence Forces and all executive and administrative powers in relation to these forces, including the power to delegate command and authority.
Military command is delegated by the Minister to the four Command General Officers Commanding within the areas of their Commands and to three Corps Commanders — Air Corps, Naval Service and Observer Corps.
I understand the issue being addressed here is whether there is a dual structure of command, one for peacetime operations and one for combative wartime operations. Is it not correct that the Defence Forces maintain those two structures on an ongoing basis and that in part contributes to what seems to be an extraordinarily large number of civil personnel employed in the administration of these structures?
I do not think so. As it is now structured I have had no difficulties since I became Minister in meeting the heads of either the civilian or the military sides. It works rather well provided the Minister keeps in touch with each of them. I accept that it is unique. It is different from other Departments in that respect but I think it can be done.
Let me put another proposition. Given that we have such a small geographic spread of our Defence Forces and we do not have a particularly large number of personnel, have the Department and the Minister considered at any stage the need to rationalise the command structures so as to give a more efficient, more streamlined service and return on the investment put into it by the taxpayer?
The latter point is being looked at very closely at the moment. I have had discussions with the military command on this aspect with a view to making the military generally more mobile, more mechanised and less barracks oriented, to encapsulate it in a few words. This year we have an extra allocation in respect of revamping the whole transportation system. I see more efficient transportation on land and in the air as being very important, with a capacity to move quickly from location to location, general mobility rather than a rigid or static command structure based on barracks. We want to get away from that and I have asked them to examine the whole structure, particularly in the Army, of command with a view to moving in this direction. To that extent I go along with the Deputy.
Whom do you ask?
The Chief of Staff and the whole headquarters.
