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

We are all anxious that the tribunal does its work and it goes well for the Women of Honour and, indeed, the people we met this morning in the audiovisual room. There are, though, three things we must keep to the front of our minds here because if we do not, then we will be lost before we start. One is that there is a great power imbalance between the Defence Forces as an organisation and the individual personnel within it. It is also a hierarchical and patriarchal culture, in which the outlined sexual and other abuses were committed. The third point is the powerlessness of the people who were abused in a society within a society. It has its own rules, its own discipline, its own courts and its own police. Of course, regarding the people being dealt with, it is not just a question of a different rank. The people being dealt with are armed. They have their own courts. These are things we must keep to the front of mind in respect of the terms of reference and the business of the tribunal.

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