(1) There shall be and there is hereby constituted a Council of Defence to assist the Minister for Defence in the administration of the business of the Department of Defence, but without derogating from the responsibility of the Minister for Defence to the Dáil for all the administration and business of the Department of Defence and for the exercise and performance of all the powers, duties and functions connected therewith.
(2) The Council of Defence shall consist of the following members, namely the Minister for Defence, who (under the style of "Commander-in-Chief") shall be Chairman of the Council of Defence, and four other members amongst whom shall be distributed the principal divisions or branches of the business of the Council of Defence, that is to say, a civil member being a member of Dáil Eireann who shall be responsible to the Minister for Defence for the finance of the Military Defence Forces and for so much of the other business of the Council of Defence as may be f