Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The way the process works is that people get recommended for either a DSM or an MMG. Those names then go to a medals board for assessment. Often, even though they have been recommended for medals, people are not awarded them because, for whatever reason, the medals board decides that the threshold has not been reached for the medal to be awarded. That is very much a military process, the integrity of which we must try to protect. I assure the Deputy there is absolutely no political resistance to trying to do what is right. Consider what has already happened in this space. In December 2017 a medal known as An Bonn Jadotville, the Jadotville medal, was specifically designed to recognise the role many of these men played in what was an extraordinary and courageous effort at the time.

There is a process in train now and I hope it can have a successful outcome that everybody can accept. I will come back to the House as soon as I have recommendations, and we will act on those.

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