asked the Minister for Defence the number of employees in his Department by category and rank over the past five years; and the total cost for each of the same years.

The numbers and grades of civil servants employed in my Department on 31 December in each of the years 1981 to 1985 and the total cost involved are indicated in the following table:

Established Civil Servants

Unestablished Civil Servants

* These numbers do not include civilians employed with the Defence Forces.