I would like to know if the Minister for Defence could give us any idea as to when he is likely to be able to introduce a permanent Defence Forces Bill. I approve, of course, the principle of an Annual Army Bill, but that does not mean that there should not be some Bill of a permanent character in operation governing the defence forces of the country. The Bill, of which this is merely a continuance, was passed without discussion of any kind in either House. It was merely drafted, introduced and passed in a very hurried and excited time, and that is the Bill under which the army is controlled and maintained at the present time. The Bill was passed in 1923, and sufficient time has now elapsed to enable the Government to introduce a Bill of a permanent character, or, at all events, to give the Oireachtas an opportunity of discussing the Bill under which the Defence Forces of the country are now being maintained.
I understand there is no military school at the present time in existence, and one wonders how the officers of the Army are being trained. If we are to have an Army at all, I think it should be an efficient one, and the efficiency of the Army depends to a large extent on the efficiency of the officers. If there is no military school one finds it difficult to see how efficiency can come about except by accident. There is one other matter I would like to have information upon. I understand that recently instructions were issued to the effect that the Army officers, from the rank of Commandant upward, were to ride to the hunt in future, and provide themselves with the necessary equipment, except the hunter, which is to be supplied by the Army. I want to know whether that order has been issued with the Minister's authority, or merely on the authority of the Army Council. Are these officers, who are not, I think, too highly paid, to get any additional allowance to enable them to follow the hunt and to keep up the style of the round of social engagements and conventions that inevitably follow? That must involve a certain amount of hardship on officers who are married and who have families, and who feel at the same time that they must keep in the front rank so far as social convention is concerned. What is the object of this order? Is it to improve the tone of the Army or to improve the horsemanship of the officers, or is it to raise the social position of the Army in the eyes of the community? I do not think there is any other question that I want to raise, but I should like to have some information with regard to the points I have mentioned.
