Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for being here today. I will continue the line of questioning started by Deputy Murphy. A number of her questions point to one of the structural issues in the way that funding and the accountability of funding is structured in the Defence Forces. Clearly, Ms McCrum is the Accounting Officer and we ask her questions when she comes before us. Many people in the Defence Forces believe that in the same way as Mr. Bernard Gloster is the Accounting Officer for the HSE, the Chief of Staff should be the Accounting Officer in respect of this committee and there should be stronger military leadership when it comes to budgetary matters, etc. A number of the questions asked by Deputy Murphy point to operational issues. There is certainly a feeling within the Defence Forces that there is a better case to be made for the Accounting Officer to be the Chief of Staff rather than the Secretary General of the Department. What is Ms McCrum's response?