Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I would like to speak in support of these amendments. I do not see how it is at all credible that the Secretary General of the Department of Defence can sit on a body that is supposed to be an independent, external oversight body over the Defence Forces. As Deputy Berry has just pointed out, there is a glaring contradiction when you talk about having the right to remove people where there are conflicts of interest and then you ensure there is a conflict of interest by putting the Secretary General of the Department of Defence on a body which might well be asking serious questions about the Department of Defence. It makes no sense whatsoever and has the potential to completely undermine the independence and objective of an independent oversight body.

I have not been following this Bill terribly closely but my interest in it was piqued by a case that was brought to me recently, which I have sought to give an airing to in this House over recent weeks. It seems to be an instance of precisely the problem here. It is the case of a sergeant who had been in the Army for 35 years. He had done multiple foreign tours and peacekeeping missions. He informed me that he had made a protected disclosure about problems in the Defence Forces. Specifically in his case, it was about the use of chemicals that were dangerous for the members of the Defence Forces who were working with them, the lack of health and safety, the lack of protective equipment and the impact on his health and that of his colleagues. He came to me because he says he was denied, and I believe him, what is called a presentation, which I had never heard of, at the end of his career. He was absolutely certain it was because he had made a protected disclosure. He said others of his colleagues were also denied this presentation. Deputy Berry would probably know these things better than I do, but as I understand it, it is a sort of ceremony for when people are finished their career. They bring their family in and so on and there is a ceremony or presentation for those who are finishing in the Defence Forces.

When I tabled a question to the Department of Defence about this, what I got back is the following from the Department over which the Secretary General presides. It states:

I would like to thank the Deputy for his question. I am not at liberty to discuss or comment on any protected disclosure; however, I am assured by Military Management that no member of the Defence Forces is denied anything on foot of having made a protected disclosure.

Let us remember that this external oversight body is supposed to deal with grievances.

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