Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is doing a grave dishonour to the Women of Honour by refusing to grant the commission of investigation they want and deserve. In recounting their appalling experiences at the hands of men, among them senior officers wearing the uniform of the State, they are taking on not just their alleged abusers but the entire apparatus of the Defence Forces and the State, and by God we know how the institutions in this State like to protect themselves. We know the lengths the State will go to in order to defend the indefensible, and do so lavishly and with great effort with the people’s money. It is not lost on people that when anybody has to challenge the State and its agencies, it is the people's taxes that pay for the legal and institutional war the State wages against the person. The names Vicky Phelan, the late Emma Mhic Mhathúna and Brigid McCole come to mind.

The review proposed by the Minister is an insult to the Women of Honour, the experiences they are making public and their bravery. Such a review degrades their service, their courage and their commitment to the State and, by extension, to all of us. A statutory and independent commission of investigation is the very least that should be offered. What the women have raised - sexual harassment, abuse, coercion, manipulation and rape - are things that go to the heart of the history of women in this State. That they should raise this in respect of the Defence Forces of the State and that they are granted a review is, frankly, disgusting. It also revictimises and retraumatises them by diminishing their experience in the alleged behaviour and minimising the examination of it in a simple review. Ordinary people in Ireland are better than this, and we must do better by these women.

The women are highly disciplined and highly trained to defend and protect the State and to keep the peace overseas. They are not looking for kid-glove treatment. They are well able to defend the women who are coming behind them. I commend them on telling their story, and I commend Deputy Clarke on tabling this motion. As she has outlined, there should be no inside job here and no review. They should have the statutory commission of investigation.

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