Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I suppose it would not have happened if reforms had not been introduced. The Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces is independent. It is for members of the military in circumstances where they believe they have been wronged to complain to the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces, and they are free and able to do that. I thought the Deputy would have welcomed that there are fewer issues arising in which members of the Defence Forces feel they have been wronged and feel compelled to complain to the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces. I thought the Deputy would welcome that there are greater efficiencies and that reforms have been introduced meaning the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces is called upon less frequently. There has been no suggestion at any stage from PDFORRA that the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces was not properly dealing with complaints.

I regret that a representative organisation such as PDFORRA, when it holds its annual conference, feels compelled to make wild complaints about all sorts of issues. It seems to be something that happens at conferences, but does not then arise in the very constructive work in which the representative bodies engage during the rest of the year. If there were only 32 complaints to the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces, does the Deputy want someone to invent complaints? Does he want somebody within the Defence Forces to start deliberately behaving with inefficiency so that we generate more complaints? Is there a suggestion that we should really have more members of the Defence Forces who believe that issues of a disciplinary nature or of a promotional nature-----

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