Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The independent review group report into the Defence Forces makes for shocking reading. It details really serious issues around a toxic culture that pertains in the Defence Forces. The report of the group chaired by Ms Justice Bronagh O'Hanlon makes findings over 50 pages and, on almost each of them, we see evidence of the abuse of members of our Defence Forces in Army barracks, on Naval Service boats, on overseas tours and elsewhere in the line of duty. Some of the shocking findings merit reading into the record of the House today. The report states:

The types of bullying described ranged from behaviour leading to suicides (often characterised as ‘accidental deaths’) to serious physical assaults, very serious sexual assaults (including rapes), and the sexual targeting of new entrants

It also states that "interviewees described their experience of their training as literal torture and said that some members of their class took their own lives." These are appalling findings. Both men and women have been affected and the findings relate to us that these issues and this culture endure to the present day. This is a culture we are told is gendered. Even though both men and women are affected, it is heavily gendered. We are told this culture at best "barely tolerates women" and that, at worst, it abuses women in its ranks. This is shocking to read. Everyone should have the right to go to work and carry out his or her duties free from harassment and violence and yet we see in the report that women members of the Defence Forces were advised to keep two locks on their bedroom doors to ward off those seeking to assault them as they slept. Some interviewees reported having to barricade sleeping quarters to prevent assault. They reported being groomed or spiked with alcohol or drugs. This is a horrific environment and all of us will want to send our thoughts and sympathies to all of those affected because it is hard to conceive of the terror these individuals must have experienced at work, realising that there was no institutional support, that they were unprotected and that people within the institution who made complaints were punished for doing so, with perpetrators moved on to work elsewhere.

I pay tribute to the Women of Honour. The experiences they detailed have now been vindicated by this report. They showed great courage in speaking with RTÉ's Katie Hannon, to whom I pay tribute for her work in keeping this issue on the agenda. I am glad the Taoiseach has accepted the need for a statutory inquiry and I welcome that. However, will he give us a timeline for the establishment of that inquiry? It must be up and running before the Oireachtas rises for the summer at the latest to ensure we see speedy and timely work on the recommendations of the report. Furthermore, the Women of Honour must be involved. It is crucial that we see their engagement with the statutory inquiry. Can we be sure this sort of culture does not prevail in other State institutions? I am thinking of An Garda Síochána and of politics. We need to make sure we are not tolerating or enabling the continuation of these sorts of toxic workplace cultures.

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