Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. This has been a really useful debate and I hope the families watching get some solace from the fact that the Seanad has decided to prioritise this debate, spend as much this much time discussing the matter and that the debate had so many contributors, which is not always the case. I congratulate the Senators who have made this happen through the Cathaoirleach's actions, and they include Senators Craughwell, McGahon, Wall and others, who have taken a real personal interest in the matter.

Senators have asked me for timelines and my commitment is that we want the review to be concluded, with a recommendation to me from the Chief of Staff by the end of next March. It is important we give some time for this but not too much time, as many people will be waiting. The end of March is a reasonable timeline. It gives the review group a number of months to produce a report for the Chief of Staff upon which we can make informed decisions.

I have not announced a medal review board today. The Chief of Staff has committed to putting in place an independent review group that is external, so it does not comprise serving personnel per se. That will result in an independent and open-minded review. It is a matter for the Chief of Staff to appoint people but we will certainly make sure it is a credible review group that will produce a report that can allow us to make decisions I hope will be welcomed by this House.

I recognise how responsible this debate has been in the context of the politics of this matter. It is important that it is recognised here and in other fora how medals are awarded and how people are recommended for those awards. When someone commits a career to the Defence Forces, medals really matter, along with the recognition that comes with them, the precedent set and how they compare with others who have also been honoured with medals. We need to get this right and this must happen on the basis of a military assessment.

What politicians can do, and what I will do as Minister for Defence, is ensure we put the political context in place for this review. It must be done in an open-minded way that takes account of history and attitudes of the time and today. The recognition of courage, skill and the extraordinary contribution and sacrifice made by those involved at the time should get the review it deserves and we should be able to move on and make decisions on the back of it. If I need to change regulations to facilitate it, we will do that. There shall be no process barriers in place.

There must, however, be integrity in a medal system and the ownership of that must stay within the military and medals boards to assess these issues. We should not forget that the majority of people who get nominated for consideration for medals do not get awarded those medals. Medal assessment boards are a tough process and Senator Craughwell and others who have served in the Defence Forces know this. Many people get nominated and it is an honour to be nominated but getting awarded a medal is a big deal. It should always be a big deal because of the recognition it represents. I hope we can progress the matter. As I have said, I would be more than happy to return to the Seanad at the end of March or the start of April when we have a review completed for the Chief of Staff. On the back of that he can make recommendations to me and I assure Members we will act on those quickly if a political process is required to facilitate the recommendations.