Vol. 516 No. 5
175 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Defence the number of meetings since his appointment with the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces; if additional personnel were present at any or all of these meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8519/00]
Pursuant to the provisions of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1998, which came into effect on 1 October 1998, only one military branch, the head of which is the Chief of Staff, is located in my Department. Since 1998, the Chief of Staff has responsibility for the performance of the full range of the military business of the Department. He is the only military officer that reports directly to me on such business. This is a major change from the position prior to 1998 when there were three military branches in the Department and the head of each branch was directly responsible for and reported to me on the business of his branch. The Chief of Staff has, with my approval, delegated duties assigned to him by me to the deputy chiefs of staff and they in turn are responsible for and report to the chief of staff on such duties as are assigned to them.
In those circumstances, bilateral meetings between myself, the chief of staff and other senior officers, both civilian and military, are a frequent and commonplace feature of the normal business of the Department of Defence. No particular formalities are associated with such meetings which take place as required on a regular basis.
