Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

My big concern is the length of time this process is taking. The Commission on the Defence Forces was established at the end of 2020 and we still do not have an outcome or result. One of the international members of the commission gave some public commentary a couple of days ago in which he described our Defence Forces as not being fit for purpose. Those views were echoed by the Chief of Staff yesterday, which is a fairly scandalous indictment of what has happened over recent decades from an investment point of view. I urge the Government to be as ambitious as possible in terms of both the content and the timing of the delivery of this. We have no idea where the Ukrainian crisis is going, whether it is going to escalate or whether Ireland will become involved against its will, which is not entirely our decision. I urge the Taoiseach to be as ambitious as possible. I look forward to that memorandum going to the Government in the next number of weeks.

See this speech in context