Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to place on record my concern that we all received a letter prior to the Chief of Staff arriving here to the effect we were not to stray into policy areas. I believe the Chief of Staff, as the most senior military officer in the country, is well capable of telling us if we stray into areas we should not stray into. With that in mind, I am somewhat concerned at the blurring I have noticed and other people have mentioned to me of the roles within the senior Department of Defence and the Chief of Staff’s office. We see the Secretary General taking security briefings. It is my understanding that it is the Chief of Staff’s job to offer security advice to the Minister of the day. It has been said to me or in my company on one particular occasion that anybody could be the Chief of Staff. I am sure the Chief of Staff would not agree with that statement. I wish to have his view on that.

The Chief of Staff spoke about the centenary of commemorations, in which the Defence Forces indeed did a tremendous job. However, I participated in a commemoration in Glasnevin later last year to commemorate some 1,000 members of the national Army who died in the Civil War. No colour party was provided for that and it caused much distress to families. Somebody told me, and I do not know where it came from, that it was the position of the Defence Forces that this would have been a misuse of resources. I have never known the military to refuse a colour party for any commemorative ceremony. I would be interested in the Chief of Staff’s views on that.

One of my colleagues mentioned the dreaded issue of medals. I am looking at veterans' issues at the moment. Are the Defence Forces prepared to do what military organisations all over the world have done and look back on acts of valour carried out by members of the Defence Forces? In particular, a member of my former battalion, Billy Kedian, lost his life in Lebanon having set out to rescue or warn colleagues of incoming mortars, and all that was awarded to him was the military star. Dick O’Hanlon and Martin Fahy from Galway and two other colleagues, under fire, rescued former Sergeant Major O’Connor, got him to a medical aid post and saved his life. There are countless stories of this type, leaving aside the dreaded Jadotville, which has never been dealt with correctly. I know the Chief of Staff and I will probably differ on that and I am happy enough with that. Is it not time that we looked back at acts of valour that took place, commemorated those men, and it was mainly men at that time, who put their lives on the line to save a comrade, and saw to it that they are properly recognised for that? It is extremely distressing we have not done that for quite a number of those men.

During his presentation, the Chief of Staff mentioned that any member of this committee and any former member of the Defence Forces is welcome in any barracks in the country. On my desk now, I have 30 sergeant majors, BQs and RSMs who are meeting to try to come up with a veterans’ charter on which they would advise the veterans' organisations, the Chief of Staff and the Department on. These are all the most senior non-commissioned officers in the Defence Forces and they have been refused accommodation in any barracks for a meeting. I have actually funded one of those meetings. It is outrageous that men and women who reach those non-commissioned ranks are being refused accommodation in a barracks to hold a meeting. They will not run away with the silverware or anything like that.

On the operational side, my colleagues mentioned the subsurface cables and the need for, if you want, subsurface surveillance. Has there been a revision of the procurement requirements for subsurface surveillance, both for the Naval Service and the Air Corps? I believe the new aircraft that are coming on line will be capable of carrying out subsurface observations.

I will move on to the 2013 pension scheme. Does the Chief of Staff believe that the 2013 pension scheme is detrimental to the retention of troops in service in the organisation? For the life of me, I know from my time in the Teachers’ Union of Ireland that each revision of pensions that took place in 1996, I think, in 1999, and again in 2013 cut more and more into the pension schemes and caused serious concern. However, no profession is forced to retire at 50 other than the Defence Forces right now. Given that a person cannot draw down a supplementary pension while he or she waits to reach the age of 60, that will be a serious problem. An awful lot of young officers particularly are looking at a couple of years, a bit of service overseas and then moving straight into the Civil Service.

In recent times, a significant number of commissioned officers have moved into the Civil Service. On the side of the non-commissioned officers, a lot of them who reach pension age are finding that the Civil Service is not an option for them because of there being pension abatement, which is outrageous.

On the working time directive, is the Defence Forces seeking any exemptions from that, and if it is, how many and why are they being sought? I understand there are operational issues that might cause problems, and the Chief of Staff might outline those for the committee.

I have two issues regarding the Defence Forces Army Ranger Wing. One is the allowances which have remained unpaid for years. What is the position on those? The second one is that a number of members of An Garda Síochána have been sent overseas to look after Ministers when they were travelling to Ukraine. Why not the Army Ranger Wing? Surely that is its role. Its members were sent to Afghanistan. They were good enough for that, so why are we not using them for trips to Ukraine?

A final point which is of concern to a lot of serving soldiers, I am told, concerns those who are being pulled out of UN duties to join a European battle group. Are they going to lose out on allowances when they join a battle group?

I am sorry there are so many questions there, and the Chief of Staff will understand that a lot of them are not my questions but are coming from former members of the Defence Forces, particularly on veterans' issues, and colleagues whom I would have known down through the years who are concerned about the direction in which they think the Defence Forces is being driven. If it is being driven in that direction, the Chief of Staff is the one who has to save this. I appreciate throwing these questions at him when he is only a short time in office is probably difficult, but I appreciate him taking the time.

I should put on record the tremendous job which the Chief of Staff and the organisation did for Private Seán Rooney and his family. It was one of the most moving days I have been involved in in a long time. We look after our people very well. I congratulate the Chief of Staff and the entire staff on that.