Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on the independent review group report regarding misconduct in our armed forces. I welcome the Women of Honour group to the Public Gallery. I also welcome veterans of the Defence Forces from Kildare.

I welcome the publication of the report and its recommendations. Two commitments in the Tánaiste's opening statement jumped out. The first is the need for a statutory inquiry. There is absolutely such a need. It must be judge-led and have the power of compellability. We need to move from this scoping exercise to more of a fact-finding basis. That is a step in the right direction. The second was the accountability piece and the Tánaiste's commitment to an external oversight body. That is a very good idea. Any transparent, open, mature and rational organisation should welcome external oversight. That is the way it should be.

What have I heard over the past 48 hours? My phone has been on fire because I have received so many phone calls. People are in disbelief. There is a state of collective shock. People are very disturbed and upset. They feel hugely let down. Many people are saying they do not recognise the organisation that is being described and that the description does not accord with their experience. They are devastated as a result of what has happened.

I take the Tánaiste's point about cultural change and agree with it. I will try to help by putting two points across. There are a couple of underlying causes of a need for change in the Defence Forces. The first is that our armed forces are hypersensitive to criticism. That is absolutely the case. I have felt that dissent is almost regarded as unpatriotic or worse, that it is a manifestation of ill-discipline. When I came here after 23 years in the armed forces, the first job I had to learn and the first skill I had to develop was the ability to take criticism without taking offence. If we can change one thing in the Defence Forces, it should be to remove people's hypersensitivity to criticism. The second point is that the Defence Forces are obsessed with image. Everything has to be perfect. The Tánaiste has seen guards of honour. Everything has to be perfect and fine. They are obsessed with excellence, which is important, but because of the obsession with image, the Defence Forces take complaints very poorly. Complaints should be embraced and not resisted.

I am heartened and encouraged by what I have heard in the Chamber. I was expecting all military people to be tarred with the same brush but the opposite has happened. Every contributor has been discerning. They have said that the vast majority of people in the military are good quality people but a significant minority misbehave or worse, engage in criminal activity. Those people must be dismissed and their behaviour stamped out.

I welcome the commitment to a statutory inquiry. I have one suggestion. I know the Garda Commissioner has the means and legal authority to suspend somebody on full pay provided there is enough evidence and without prejudice to any investigation. The Chief of Staff does not have that same power. Perhaps during his wrap-up, the Tánaiste will comment on whether he thinks it would be appropriate to grant the Chief of Staff such a power of suspension where evidence is available without prejudicing an inquiry.

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