Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 June 2012
182 Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Defence the number of associations, organisations and regulatory bodies in receipt of grants, benefit in kind and sums of money from the State in tabular form for the past three years; if he is satisfied that the State should be financing such organisations; if he will undertake to examine the savings that can be made in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28913/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe following organisations are in receipt of grants/funds from the Department of Defence:
|
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
|
Agency Funding |
|||
|
Civil Defence Board |
€6.148m |
€6.061m |
€5.585m |
|
Coiste an Asgard |
€830,000 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
Costs Arising from EU Common Security and Defence Policy |
|||
|
ATHENA Committee (ATHENA Special Committee is a working body of the EU Council which administers the financing of EU military operations) |
€282,152 |
€208,349 |
€228,473 |
|
EU Satellite Centre |
€89,450 |
€75,780 |
€70,317 |
|
European Defence Agency |
€584,849 |
€315,775 |
€284,047 |
|
Grants to Veteran Associations |
|||
|
Irish United Nations Veteran Association (IUNVA) |
€10,000 |
€10,000 |
€10,000 |
|
Organisation of National ex-servicemen and women (ONE) |
€40,000 |
€40,000 |
€40,000 |
|
Miscellaneous |
|||
|
Military History Society of Ireland |
€9,863 |
€5,308 |
€5,578 |
|
Irish Red Cross |
€951,000 |
€951,000 |
€951,000 |
|
DF Canteen Board |
€485,000 |
€485,000 |
€485,000 |
|
Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA) |
€68,568 |
€68,568 |
€68,568 |
|
Reserve Defence Force Representative Association (RDFRA) |
€52,694 |
€52,694 |
€52,694 |
The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) and RDFRA are provided with office accommodation without charge. Personnel are seconded to RACO and PDFORRA on a non-recoupment basis. Currently, there are 2 officers seconded to RACO and 3 enlisted personnel to PDFORRA.
The grant-in-aid to the Civil Defence Board and Irish Red Cross was cut in order to comply with a provision in the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014 which required that the operating costs of all non-commercial State Agencies must be cut by 10% from 2011.
In the context of settling the Estimates for the Department of Defence for 2010, the previous Government decided that the national sail training scheme, operated by Coiste an Asgard, would be discontinued, as recommended in the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure.
I am satisfied that the contributions to the above organisations are kept under review having regard to the current economic climate.
