Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is not a quiz. I am just referring to the fact that I am aware many people are watching this committee, believe it or not. People will be interested in their rights. I am conscious that a Bill on the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces has been sitting in these Houses for quite a while. There is a lot of dust on it now and it might even nearly need to be hoovered. It has been sitting in here for a long time. It proposes to give the members of the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána the option to join a union and have their rights and their say. This is what I am coming back to regarding with Mr. Justice Mahon and his position. The Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces investigates issues concerning rights-based protected disclosures. Union representation and collective bargaining rights should be rights-based. It should be a natural right that people have a voice in this regard. I feel the voices of the members of the Defence Forces here are strangled to an extent. I refer to the scope in this context. I wrote a note to myself on the papers I have with me. It reminds me to introduce new amendments in this regard. That is what I have written down here. I refer to going into the scope of it and this is to assist Mr. Justice Mahon's office.

I have one more question.