An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir Dec 2015 / Jan 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 20 | by LT COL GERARD BUCKLEY M ilitary Finance branch's primary role is to provide the Defence Forces with a high quality financial manage- ment service that supports the delivery of affordable and value-for-money operational outputs and defence capabili- ties. In the recent reduced-resource environment, the branch priorities were maintaining levels of support to personnel, supporting the retention of critical capabilities, and planning for medium term procurement; all within established expenditure ceilings. Emerging into a more robust financial environment, supporting the implementation of the Defence White Paper is central to our activities. A secondary role of the Branch is enhancing financial awareness and understanding of the organisational financial mechanisms. It could be said that you don't fully know an organisation until you know how its financial resources are managed. Military Finance Branch reports directly to DCOS Sp, who has budgetary control and responsibility for all expenditure in respect of subheads where authority has been delegated to him. (The defence budget is divided into 25 subheads of which 13 are either fully or partially delegated to the Defence Forces.) Amongst his many roles, D COS Sp is in essence the Defence Forces' Chief Financial Officer. The delegated subheads have a total spend of over €120 million for 2015, a considerable sum of money, which allows the Defence Forces to directly shape outputs. On behalf of DCOS Sp, Military Finance Branch has oversight of the military subhead holders (the service commander or corps direc- tor charged with the responsibility of overseeing, controlling and monitoring the expenditure incurred in a subhead). Parallel to its role within the Defence Forces, the Branch also acts as the financial point-of-contact with the DoD. Critical partners for us in this process are the DoD's Finance Branch in Renmore and Contracts Branch in Newbridge. The DoD Finance Branch is the financial shared services centre for the defence organisation, with services ranging from payroll to accounts payable. With the advent of financial management shared services, as part of the Public Service Reform Pro- gramme, a great number of the services currently provided by the DoD are scheduled to be provided by the Department of Public Expenditure and Re- form (DPER). Central to the role of Military Finance Branch is oversight, firstly to safeguard public funds but also to safeguard the reputation of the Defence Forces. It is incumbent upon us in the Defence Forces, on behalf of the government and citizens we serve, to utilise the resources entrusted to us with the utmost care and diligence. Attaining the best possible value for the resources at our disposal is central to our endeavours. It is essential that good choices are made on the areas where money is spent and how resources are allocat- ed. It is imperative that projects and programmes are implemented efficiently and effectively. A disciplined approach needs to be applied to all aspects of the Military Finance Branch pictured L/R: CQMS Billy Bohane, Comdt Eugene Cooke, Ms Aideen Day, Lt Col Ger Buckley, Capt Mick Hosback and Cpl Tom Reddy.

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