Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State indicated it would not be appropriate to comment on the findings of the report because the representative associations have not had access to it. The reason they have not had access is that the Minister of State has not given them access to it. He and I had this conversation at a meeting of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence before the summer recess at which he informed me the report was on his deskand he needed time to review, analyse and digest it. I asked him to make the report available to the associations representing the soldiers who were the subject of the survey but he declined to do so at that juncture. It is September and the representative associations have not received a copy of the report. It is grossly inadequate to provide them with copies just before the meeting in Limerick as they will not have sufficient time to digest its contents and give the Minister of State their view on it. Soldiers are supposed to look to the Minister for guidance and leadership. They should be allowed an opportunity to analyse and digest the report in advance of the briefing in Limerick. The Minister of State should be willing to take on board their suggestions. Why has he failed to publish the report and give the representative associations a copy of given that it has been on his desk since June?

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