Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No. I do not accept the Deputy's assertions. We have a mechanism of the conciliation and arbitration process within the Department and the Defence Forces that is open to both the representative organisations, PDFORRA and RACO, that represent members of the Army, Naval Service and the Air Corps. If they are unhappy with that, they can go to the ombudsman for adjudication.

A process is therefore in place within the Defence Forces. I am not going to say that everything in the garden is rosy or that neither representative organisation brings issues to my attention. Of course they do. However, this is a matter of ironing out the issues both organisations have, and I have met the organisations on numerous occasions. If there are any major issues concerning the members of the organisation, both RACO and PDFORRA can bring them to the attention of the Department of Defence and senior management of the Defence Forces. I am satisfied that the process we have is able to deal with this.

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