Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 September 2025

Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen

Engagement with the Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces

2:00 am

Mr. Justice Alan Mahon:

No, and I think I can recall, over a number of years, only one case where there were allegations of sexual misbehaviour. In fact, if my memory is correct, that was from a male complainant but that person was, unfortunately, out of time. There is a 12-month limitation period to get a complaint into my office from the date of the event complained of. We have not had complaints of sexual misbehaviour. The interpersonal-type complaints that we get relate mainly to bullying. "Bullying" is a big word and it takes in a lot of different sorts of misbehaviour. As I explained in my opening statement, the only complaints of gender discrimination over the last couple of years have come from male complainants, not from female complainants.

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