Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [20327/23]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [22803/23]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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3. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [22863/23]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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4. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the high-level action plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [24735/23]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

The Government approved a high-level action plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces in July 2022. The report sets out the initial implementation and oversight structures, comprising a high-level steering board, an independently chaired implementation oversight group and an implementation management office.

The high-level steering board is chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and the membership comprises the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, the Secretaries General of the Departments of Defence, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and Environment, Climate and Communications, and the independent chair of the implementation oversight group. The purpose of the steering board is to steer the implementation oversight group and to provide guidance where necessary, as well as acting as a clearing house for any issues that may arise in the implementation of the commission’s recommendations. The steering board held its first meeting on 1 March, at which it received a detailed update on the progress made to date with the implementation of the high-level action plan.

The implementation oversight group has met four times to date and is overseeing and driving the implementation of the recommendations of the commission. The civil-military implementation management office, which was established last year, is in the advanced stages of developing a detailed implementation plan under the stewardship of the implementation oversight group.

A comprehensive update on the high-level action plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces was published on 23 March. It showed 80% completion of the 38 early actions, with substantial progress made on the remainder. It provides solid building blocks for the detailed implementation plan up to 2028.

Separately, following the publication of the report of the independent review group on dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces on 28 March 2023, the Government established an external oversight body for the Defence Forces. This new body will play a central role in driving a necessary culture change throughout the Defence Forces and in increasing transparency and accountability.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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I will curtail the time to one minute each, given the numbers, in order that we can get an appropriate response.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The review on dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces has found instances of bullying, harassment, discrimination and sexual harassment persist. They are not features of the past. The authors emphasise the prevailing culture will not stop without immediate and significant steps being taken and that neither men nor women in the Defence Forces are working in a safe workplace environment. It is clear from the language throughout the review that implementation of its recommendations requires urgency.

There is also an expectation that those who were and are victims of the broken organisational culture are given a place in devising the solutions to fix it. It is fair to say we have seen sustained failure of leadership within the Defence Forces and by successive Ministers and the Department. It was Women of Honour and others within the Defence Forces who pushed back over the years and forced acknowledgement, acceptance and action on things that could no longer be denied or pushed under the carpet.

What further engagement is taking place between Government and the women in agreeing a process in the development of the inquiry’s terms of reference? Has the women’s feeling that Government sought to railroad them and others without courtesy or respect been heard and, more importantly, addressed?

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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The Taoiseach says he does not want to join NATO; public opinion would not allow him to. However, I think he does want to achieve a de facto associate membership of NATO by drawing ever closer and advancing integration into its structure without formally joining in the short term. I am against that because NATO is an imperialist military alliance led by the United States that does not and never will represent the interests of ordinary working people anywhere.

As for the consultative forum on security policy, what was originally floated by the Tánaiste was a citizens' assembly. The assembly is being kept, but the citizens are effectively being written out of the script.

To be honest, there was arguably more democracy in the tsarist Duma than there is in this forum. I put it to the Taoiseach that the people know what the Government is doing here and, in reality, it is just a sham.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I see the Green Party has once more wrestled with its conscience and, unsurprisingly, once more the Green Party has emerged victorious in ditching another one of its so-called principles by signing up with Fine Fáil and Fine Gael to abandon the triple lock. The Government and the Taoiseach like to present this abandonment of the triple lock and this abandonment of a commitment in the programme for Government as a response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. However, that is not true, is it? If you go back 20 years, you can read a policy document from Fine Gael called Beyond Neutrality, where the triple lock system is described as being a "political straitjacket”. If you go through the record of the Dáil, you will see the Taoiseach himself in 2008 describing the triple lock as not right and saying that such decisions should be made in the Dáil and or by an elected European Parliament. Is it not the case, then, that it was always Fine Gael's plan to seize the appropriate moment to try and abandon the triple lock, which would free up a Government with majority Dáil support to send troops abroad, for example, to the Middle East, to participate in US-led military adventures?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Last week, I was contacted by a very nice man I met many years ago. He informed me that he was previously in the Army and that he had been a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of an officer over many years. Approximately 20 years ago, he took a High Court case where, although the sexual abuse was acknowledged, finding the Army culpable was not accepted at that time by the court. Since then, there has been the Women of Honour inquiry, which has highlighted the widespread, systemic nature of sexual and other abuse in the Defence Forces. There is an inquiry coming and it is long overdue. My friend has asked whether that inquiry will extend not only to the abuse suffered by women, but also sexual and other abuse suffered by men. He asks this because he wants it to be. It is a very reasonable request and he would be very keen to hear the Government’s answer because he deserves justice for the terrible abuse and suffering that he had inflicted on him.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for their questions. The work and report of the independent review group on dignity and equality in the Defence Forces have raised very profound issues relating to culture and unacceptable behaviour. The value of the report has been demonstrated by the widespread support for its recommendations and the universal reaction of shock and dismay at its contents and conclusions. It is now vital that we quickly build on the work of the review. A statutory inquiry is the logical, necessary next step.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Deputy Micheál Martin, has obtained Government approval to establish an independent, judge-led statutory inquiry. It will investigate whether there have been serious systemic failures in the complaints system in the Defence Forces in relation to interpersonal issues including, but not limited to, sexual misconduct. It is my understanding that it will apply to men and women. I will double-check, but that is my understanding. The Minister for Defence intends to bring forward terms of reference for this inquiry as soon as possible and, to this end, I understand the process of engagement with stakeholders has commenced. The Tánaiste has met with all relevant partners, including the Women of Honour, the women and men of honour, the Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA, the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, and veterans association. He will continue to do so. I am advised that their observations and suggestions on the draft terms, which have been provided to them recently, are awaited. The Tánaiste is also in consultation with the Attorney General on the appointment of a judge or a retired judge to lead this inquiry. He intends to bring a nomination to the Government in the coming weeks.

In relation to the question on defence and security policy, I can be very clear to the House that the Government has no plans whatsoever to apply for NATO membership. We are NATO partners through the Partnership for Peace, we have been for a very long time and that will continue. We will continue to be involved in PESCO, which is the European Union's common security and defence policy. I believe that is to our benefit and to the benefit of our security.

One thing Deputy Paul Murphy is absolutely right about is that I have never been a supporter of the triple lock and I have never pretended to be one. I remember how it came about. I cannot remember whether it was the Lisbon Treaty or the Nice Treaty-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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It was the Lisbon Treaty.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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-----but a conspiracy theory was spun by people on the Left that if people voted for the Lisbon Treaty that there would be an EU Army and that we might be conscripted into it and long before-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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There is an EU army.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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-----the social media world there were conspiracy theories that people took seriously. As part of the response to that absurd and provably untrue conspiracy theory perpetrated by some people at that time, neither of those things happened-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Well, there are battle groups, if not an EU army.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I do not believe it is appropriate to allow Russia, China, Britain, France or America to decide whether or not we send troops on missions abroad. That should be a decision for the Government and for the Dáil.