Today I wrote to the Taoiseach in his capacity as Minister of Defence regarding the recent Public Appointments Service advertisement for a new post of Assistant Secretary Defence Capability (People) Department of Defence at a salary of between €128,000 and €146,000 per annum. I wrote because I was at a loss to understand the rationale for this new post as both the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces already have very well staffed and effective HR sections which manage the recruitment, induction, training, development and other HR services for their civilian, civil service and military personnel.