Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation

I wish to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 2014 to request access to information in the form of records held by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in respect of the appointment of a "consultant psychiatrist/ military psychiatrist/ civilian psychiatrist/ psychiatrist" to the Irish Defence Forces in 2019. I would like to request information between the timeframe 01 JUN 2018 - 31 AUG 2019 1. I would like to request copies of any emails, memos, letters or submissions and their attachments where relevant, between officials within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Defence in relation to documents relating to a. Discussions/ sanctions/ approval or feedback between DPER and DOD for the creation of a civilian post in psychiatry in the Defence Forces or issues relating to recruitment of a consultant psychiatrist. b. Any business case(s) or correspondence received from the Dept of Defence relating to the terms and conditions of the appointment of a consultant psychiatrist. 2. 3. I would like to request copies of any emails, memos, letters or submissions and their attachments where relevant, between officials within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Defence Forces in relation to documents relating to a. Discussions/ sanctions/ approval or feedback between DPER and DOD for the creation of a civilian post in psychiatry in the Defence Forces or issues relating to recruitment of a consultant psychiatrist. b. Any business case(s) or correspondence received from the Defence Forces relating to the terms and conditions of the appointment of a consultant psychiatrist. 4. 5. I would like to request copies of any emails, memos, letters or submissions and their attachments where relevant, between officials within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Defence/ Paul Kehoe/ Minister of State at the Dept of Defence in relation to documents relating to a. Discussions/ sanctions/ approval or feedback between DPER and DOD for the creation of a civilian post in psychiatry in the Defence Forces or issues relating to recruitment of a consultant psychiatrist. b. Any business case(s) or correspondence received from the Minister for Defence/ Paul Kehoe/ Minister of State at the Dept of Defence in the possession of DPER relating to the terms and conditions of the appointment. 6. Any minutes of meetings at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform or records between 01 JAN 2018 - 31 DEC 2019 at the level of Asst. Principal Officer or above discussing/ approving a consultant psychiatrist salary in the Defence Forces/ Dept of Defence. The reason I would like to request this information is to understand how a successful business case / submission was made to DPER authorising the appoint an appropriately qualified and remunerated clinical specialist to the Defence Forces to improve the quality of patient care. For info: On Thursday 17 Jan 2019, the then Minister Paul Kehoe stated in the Dáil record "The proposal I approved before Christmas [2018] has gone to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for final sign-off. As the Deputy stated, the salary offered is only half of what may be on offer in the private sector or the HSE. That is probably the main reason for the lack of applications for the position that was advertised."