Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will focus on the commission report. I think the Minister will agree that some of the commentary about it is unhelpful. Somebody has seen the report. There have been suggestions that a draft of the report was submitted to the Minister's Department. Commentary emerged that the draft is in part vague and in part contradictory. We should not be having commentary on a report that has not been published. It is important for the Minister to marshal and control the information before the report is finalised and published.

I welcome what the Minister has said about the implementation strategy and that the report is not going to be rushed but will be thought about. A pivotal part of the implementation strategy will be engagement with the representatives of Defence Forces personnel, who understand first-hand exactly what needs to be done. Their understanding, commentary and in-depth knowledge of what needs to be done will be critical in the implementation of the recommendations of the report.

I ask the Minister to respond on those two points - the need to marshal the information to ensure these things are not shot at before the report even becomes a public document, and the need for a clearly discussed implementation plan that is not presented to the Defence Forces representative bodies but negotiated with them in terms of how this transformational document is to be implemented over many years to come.

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