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

I apologise to the Deputy. The reason "independent and unbiased" is a term used to describe the new review body is we want this to be an external review as opposed to an internal one within the military system or within the Defence Forces, which is what often takes place if there is a problem. The Chief of Staff sets up an internal review within the Defence Forces. That is the way the Defence Forces works with respect to many of the issues it must assess and review. This is different. We want an external group of people to put in place a very robust and in-depth assessment of the Defence Forces and the systems within it to ensure people are protected in their workplace. That is, I believe, what the Women of Honour and many currently working in the Defence Forces want as well. We have tried to listen to them and put in place a review they can trust and believe in.

We will finalise the terms of reference once we have had feedback from all the relevant stakeholders. That will happen in the next few weeks. We certainly hope to have this done this side of Christmas so the review body can be up and running from January. That is the rough timeline we are on.

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