Mr. Conor King:

That is correct and this is a right that is being taken away. I will address the oversight body. Nobody sitting here intends to personalise anything. It is very instructive to note and remember that independent oversight did exist in the Defence Forces and did include the Department of Defence but it also included representative associations and military management. There was balance and it was chaired independently and was viewed as being independent. The current iteration of oversight that has existed in a non-statutory guise and is now purported to become statutorily established lacks balance in that regard. We have no issue with any ex-officiomember of the Department of Defence being a member of an oversight body but without representation on it, it does lack balance and it could be perceived to not be independent and that is the way our members have viewed it.