Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

A dhaoine uaisle, tá fáilte romhaibh go léir go dtí Teach Laighean. It is a very special moment for me to meet the general staff, having served myself as an officer in the Defence Forces. I will try to be brief. A lot of questions have been asked.

My primary interest is in the culture of the Defence Forces. Women of Honour was referenced. As the general staff knows, and as everybody in this room knows, the revelations about serious sexual violence, sexual assault and rape, did not begin with Women of Honour. It began 25 years ago, when I sat down with the Chief of Staff's predecessor, Lieutenant General Gerry McMahon, in his office, as a serving officer, and I set out the very serious challenges that confronted Óglaigh na hÉireann at that time with regard to explicitly discriminatory policies and practices as they applied to female personnel.

My research, which was published in 2000, resulted in a very detailed document which sets out, in forensic detail, the causes and patterns of gender-based discrimination and gender-based violence within the Defence Forces - sexual assault and rape. It is not about sexual harassment, or bullying. We need to be really careful about language. It is about the darkest forms of sexual violence. These are not gender issues. These are issues of the most serious criminal nature, and I set that out in very great detail 23 years ago.

With the fresh disclosures made by Women of Honour, I was contacted by the former Fianna Fáil Minister for Defence, the former Deputy, Michael Smith. I want to set the record straight here. I demanded the independent Government inquiry into my research - I did. The study review group was set up at my behest to investigate my research. It reported in 2003, and fully vindicated my findings in stating that not only were women in the Defence Forces subjected to sexual violence, sexual assault and rape, but also some male soldiers. The reason Michael Smith contacted me was because he wanted to express his sadness that, even though he and I had given the warning very clearly 23 years ago, it would appear to be the case that your culture - our culture - has not changed.

My first question is to ask the Chief of Staff to make a statement or comment on why he thinks my research was completely and utterly ignored. That is the first question. My second question is why was so much energy invested, and it is almost exclusively a phenomenon among officers, in so much reprisal targeted at me and other people who speak up about sexual violence, sexual assault and rape in the Defence Forces? Why have I been targeted and why was my family targeted?

The Chief of Staff's predecessor, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, when I met him in 2019, gave an expression of regret at the way I and my family had been treated - being the targets of reprisal, which, shamefully, is ongoing, I am sorry to say. He said he could not give an apology because some of the people who were involved in that reprisal are still serving. In fact, some of them have been promoted to very senior rank. Vice Admiral Mellett said he could not apologise for that reason. I am asking the Chief of Staff would he, on behalf of the Defence Forces, apologise to me and my family for the reprisal that was visited upon me and my family over the years? My crime, if I might put it in that way, was to speak out about sexual violence. One of the things that has puzzled me over the years is why so much energy in military culture is expended on reprisal. If even a fraction of that energy was directed at identifying and bringing the perpetrators to some sort of justice, the problem would be alleviated, but no.

Michael Smith, in his conversation with me, said he was one of the first Ministers to introduce a reduction in the alcohol limits for driving. He said he took great satisfaction over the years in seeing the numbers of deaths on the roads related to alcohol intake reducing. In other words, we stopped harm. However, his sadness, and my shared sadness, is that despite the very explicit warning I gave you all 23 years ago, hundreds of young men and women have been exposed to life-limiting and life-altering experiences because no action was taken. In fact, what we did experience was cancellation, reprisal, gaslighting and the downplaying of this problem. I would ask the Chief of Staff to make a statement about that and about whether my family and I will get an apology for that. An expression of regret is not enough.

The other question I have for the Chief of Staff is, what is his feeling about the independent review group? How does he think that report is going to reflect on the culture of the Defence Forces? If, as I suspect, it is going to show that not only has the culture not changed but that it may in fact have deteriorated, what does that say about military management over the past 20 years, and who should be held accountable for that?

I have a final question for the Chief of Staff. A number of challenges have been highlighted here around the situation in Ukraine. I agree with Deputy Berry; it is going to escalate. There is a serious risk there. I would say to the Chief of Staff that the most serious existential challenge to the future of Óglaigh na hÉireann is its own culture, its lack of diversity, and the fact it does not reflect the society it is charged to protect and served. Karina Molloy says in her recently published book that, after 39 years' service in the Defence Forces, it is not a safe place for women. I concur with that view based on my own research, which is evidence-based, and based on all of the revelations that have been disclosed to me on foot of the Women of Honour disclosures. If it is an unsafe place for 51% of the population, how can the Defence Forces purport to protect and serve the Republic?

How can the Defence Forces send troops overseas, where there are vulnerable women and children in hostile environments, when it is an organisation that, according to the evidence, appears to be an unsafe place for women?

Before any of those questions are answered, I know that Lieutenant General Clancy is a person of absolute integrity and, aside from Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, is the first Chief of Staff to acknowledge and speak directly to the Women of Honour and to acknowledge explicitly the problem that exists within the organisation. I also believe Ms Jacqui McCrum, the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, is a person who is absolutely committed to transforming the culture of the Defence Forces. This is a situation the Chief of Staff has inherited. I wish him the very best of luck in dealing with it and bringing the organisation forward but, mark my words, what is coming next with the independent review group and its report will be a watershed moment for the Defence Forces. I ask the representatives not to invest their energies in trying to engage in pushback, denial, reprisal, cancellation or gaslighting of any of the people who raise red flags but, instead, invest their energies in bringing the transformation of culture within the Defence Forces, which must happen if it is to become effective in its mission or as an organisation.