Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The report of the independent review group into the Defence Forces is damning and deeply disturbing. It details a toxic culture that has become embedded in the Defence Forces, in which abuse, bullying, harassment, sexual assault and rape occur with regularity and impunity. The Defence Forces, we are told, "barely tolerates women and, at its worst, verbally, physically, sexually and psychologically abuses women in its ranks." Almost nine out of ten women who responded to the review group experienced sexual harassment while nearly 50% reported sexual assaults. There was a "discernible pattern of rape and sexual assault" in barracks, swimming areas, naval boats, showers and abroad on foreign deployments. Making a complaint about abuse and mistreatment was said to be "career-ending" and would result in intimidation and retaliation. The main perpetrators of the abuse were male officers and there is evidence of serial perpetrators whose behaviour was not only never addressed, but, in fact, rewarded.

A consistent and embedded theme is that some members of the Defence Forces management abuse their positions of power and command in their treatment of subordinates. The report bluntly concludes the Defence Forces is unable, or unwilling, to make the changes that are needed to provide a safe working environment. There has been an "inability of the leadership to change the situation over the last 20 years". Meanwhile, initiatives to address unacceptable behaviour, brought in by the current leadership in 2021 and 2022, were "reactive and overdue" and had not yielded significant results.

Yesterday, the Chief of Staff, Seán Clancy, said he had been completely unaware of the endemic abuse in the Defence Forces for most of his 40-year career. Given the pervasive nature of the sadistic abuse that is detailed in this report, it is hard to understand how that could be the case. If it is true, and the Chief of Staff was blissfully unaware of the horrific abuse for the duration of his career, it speaks to a level of disconnection that is deeply worrying. It is also deeply concerning to read in the Irish Independent today that Lieutenant General Clancy, and his predecessors, gave repeated assurances to the Government – and previous governments – that robust measures were in place to deal with abuse and support victims. This is clearly not the case, and has never been the case. Not only were victims not supported: they were targeted and further abused if they tried to come forward. In contrast, perpetrators were promoted and rewarded. This continued not just for years, but for decades.

See this speech in context