Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

No, I do not actually. I do not ring up the chair, Brian MacCraith, which I could. He worked with me previously on the implementation board for vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with respect to the effective working through of proposals, efficacy and such things, there is a logic as to why the Secretary General is on it. I can see why the judge made that recommendation. I accepted all the recommendations made in the independent review group's, IRG, report. There is a logic to the practical working out of how the external oversight body works, from experience. If it was totally cut off, it could potentially lack impact. The whole purpose is to transform the culture in the Defence Forces and a lot of good work is now happening in that respect, although many people in the Defence Forces had different views on the O'Hanlon report. We certainly picked up some level of disagreement or resistance, not from the Chief of Staff or anyone at that level, but certainly from time to time when communicating with people there was a sense that this was not the Defence Forces they recognised. There was a reflection of that during the Seanad debate in particular, which reinforced, in my view, the need for an external oversight body, which can, without prejudice, make recommendations to be implemented by a Minister.