Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Okay. It is difficult when extra time is taken. There was a huge amount of detail in the Minister's reply. The bottom line in terms of this regulation is that nobody can be dismissed from the Army now on the basis on which this individual was dismissed. We now know that he was the only individual to be dismissed in this way. He has spent a lifetime dealing with the shame of being dismissed without knowing the reasons for his dismissal, without being given the right to have his good name vindicated, without any evidence being given against him and without having the right to attend a court martial. I am a little thrown by the correcting of an error in the Dáil record. I find it surprising that this has happened yet again. Would it have been corrected if I had not tabled this subsequent question? I am reminded that when this individual went before the courts, a document that was of key strategic importance to his case was found to have been missing for 32 years and was not presented to the Supreme Court. This document would have shown that before this man was forcibly made to retire, he made legal representation through his solicitors to the Defence Forces but did not receive any reply. This 70-year-old man has spent his life seeking justice for a decision that was made. We now know he is the only person in the history of the State to be dismissed in this way. He has carried this for 45 years.

I am not clear on the resolution to which the Minister has referred. There was a great deal of detail in his answer. Is he now saying he will give some opening to a new independent evaluation of this matter, given that the High Court has said on the record that the man in question, who is aging in years, did not receive fair procedures?

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