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

We discussed this earlier in another context. The suite of amendments to the Defence Act 1997 in section 23 provides a statutory basis for the Minister for Defence to authorise Permanent Defence Force representative associations to associate with the Irish Congress for Trade Unions. The amendments proposed by the Deputies would remove the mechanism by which associate membership of ICTU would be approved and so would undermine the core policy intention of this section of the Bill. There is a need for clear statutory provisions to govern the manner in which military representative associations are connected with bodies outside the Defence Forces. This is particularly because of the unique apolitical nature of the Defence Forces and the necessary roles they are required by government to perform. We discussed this earlier and I said I would come back in certain respects.