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

I thank the Cathaoirleach. Before I address the legislation before us this evening, perhaps the House will allow me to say that I met with some very brave women today. I had the privilege of meeting the group that is now referred to as the "Women of Honour" and also a group of serving women of various ranks from the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service. The accounts of the experiences they have had in the Defence Forces are totally unacceptable in the context of the kind of Defence Forces we should have whereby everybody, regardless of their gender or background, should be able to develop careers in a positive, protective and safe environment. That has not been the experience for far too many people. I want to say that I believe the women and am determined to ensure that the culture which allowed women to be bullied, sexually harassed and treated unfairly needs to change, and will change. We will introduce a comprehensive review mechanism, which will be independent of the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence, in order to ensure that we do an extremely in-depth piece of work here. We are going to work with that group of women, those I met today and others, to ensure that they can believe in and be convinced by the terms of reference and make-up and focus of the group.

There have been many changes in this space in the Defence Forces over the past 20 years but it does not seem to have changed a core culture that continues to expose, isolate, and at times bully female members of the Defence Forces and some men too. The Department, the Chief of Staff for the Defence Forces and I are determined to address this very comprehensively. I can give a commitment to this House that I intend to do that. I will be happy to come back and brief Senators on it as we move ahead.

I will now turn to the Bill. I am pleased to present the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020 to the House. From time to time there is requirement to amend the Defence Act 1954, the primary Act relating to defence matters, to address ongoing issues that arise in relation to the Defence Forces. The purpose of this Bill is to make a number of necessary amendments to the Defence Act. I will outline these in detail.

Senators will be aware that on foot of amendments accepted on Report Stage in Dáil Éireann, the Bill provides for a significant enhancement of the role of the Reserve Defence Force and removes the absolute prohibition currently contained within the Defence Acts on members of the latter serving overseas. Apart from matters relating to the Reserve Defence Force, the principal issues dealt with by this legislation relate to the overseas operations and the enlistment of minors. In addition, the opportunity has been taken to make a number of minor amendments of a technical nature to the Defence Acts.

I wish to outline the main provisions of the Bill. Section 1 provides definitions for key terms used in the Bill. Section 2 inserts a new section into the Defence Act 1954 to provide for the delegation by the Minister for Defence of a limited degree of control and authority, referred to as operational control in the Bill, over a Defence Forces contingent deployed as part of an international force to the force commander of that force. I know there are some in the House who have formerly served in the Defence Forces and they will understand the technical nature of why that is needed. The purpose of the amendment is to underpin and provide legal certainty in relation to existing practice whereby a limited degree of control and authority over an Irish contingent is provided to the force commander of an international force to allow for the efficient operation of a mission with which the Irish contingent is serving.

This amendment will not alter the current command structure within the Defence Forces and full command of the Irish contingent will remain with the Irish Defence Forces. Specifically, the amendment provides that a delegation of operational control by the Minister of Defence to a force commander will be in writing and may be subject to such exceptions and limitations as the Minister may determine, having had regard to such requirements as are necessary for the efficient operation of the mission concerned.

I wish to take the opportunity to explain briefly the exceptions and limitations that would typically be included in a delegation of operational control. First, a delegation of operation control relates to a particular mission. The principal exception and limitation included in a delegation is that the Irish units and subunits of the Irish contingent assigned to the mission are at all times under the command of an Irish officer. In this regard, the amendment specifically provides that a delegation of operational control does not include the authority to assign separate employment of any component of the Irish contingent that has been assigned to the international force.

In addition matters relating to discipline are not included in a delegation. I should point out that this amendment will allow the military police component of an international force, under the authority of a force commander, to arrest and detain a member of the Irish Defence Forces serving with the international force in question. However, this is subject to the member in question being handed over to the Irish military authorities as soon as practicable. Any subsequent disciplinary issues that may arise are dealt with by the Irish military authorities.

The other principal exceptions and limitations in a delegation of operational control would relate to the safety and welfare of the members of the Irish contingent. The amendment also provides that a delegation may include any other ancillary provisions as the Minister may deem necessary for the efficient operation of the mission to which the delegation refers.

As previously advised, the amendment reflects long-standing practice and will ensure that the arrangements for the delegation of operational control over a contingent of the Defence Forces to a force commander of an international force are explicitly provided for within the Defence Act. The section has been developed following extensive consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and the Defence Forces and I assure the House that the delegation in no way undermines overall control of the contingent by the Irish authorities.

In regard to sections 3 and 16, the purpose of these sections is to make a number of amendments to the Defence Acts to remove the references to the enlistment of minors. Historically minors were allowed to enlist in the Defence Forces. However, this has not been the practice for a number of years now. In this regard, under regulations made pursuant to the Defence Act 1954, persons under the age of 18 are not allowed to enlist in the Permanent Defence Forces or the Reserve Defence Forces. Notwithstanding these provisions the Defence Act 1954 still contains references to the enlistment of minors. These amendments remove any such references. The amendments give full effect to the Defence Act to the optional protocol in the convention on the rights of the child on involvement of children in armed conflict.

Sections 4 to 11, inclusive, 14, 15 and 17 relate to the Reserve Defence Force and associated matters, which has become the core of this Bill, with the amendments that we made in the Dáil. The purpose of these sections is to provide the legislative basis by way of enabling provisions to allow members of the Reserve Defence Force to serve in support of Permanent Defence Forces at home and overseas, on a voluntary basis. As I already indicated, these sections arise out of the amendments to the Bill which were accepted on Report Stage in Dáil Éireann. It got all-party support from what I can remember, including from the Independents as well.

Sections 4 and 5 of the Bill amend the Defence Act 1954 and set out a mechanism under which a member of the Reserve Defence Force may, on a voluntary basis, be deployed on military service, referred to in these amendments as supplemental military service. Any such deployment will be where there is a particular deficiency in skills and expertise in the Permanent Defence Force which would be addressed by the deployment of a member of the Reserve Defence Force on supplemental military service or is otherwise in the best interest of the Defence Forces.

The amendments have been carefully drafted to underpin the voluntary nature of the supplemental military service. In this regard, any deployment on supplemental military service may only take place where the member concerned has consented in accordance with these amendments, and to any such deployment. The consent given by the member will indicate the nature and duration of military service that he or she is prepared to render if requested. In addition, deployments of members of the Reserve Defence Forces on supplemental military service will be subject to the approval of the Minister.

I am particularly pleased that the amendments set out in sections 14, 15 and 17 remove the absolute prohibition currently contained within the Defence Acts on members of the Reserve Defence Force serving overseas. As a consequence of these amendments, it will be possible for a contingent despatched for overseas service to comprise membership of both the Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve Defence Force.

I am confident that these amendments will significantly widen the opportunities for members of the Reserve to provide support to the Permanent Defence Force. I think this is something that we all want to try to achieve. If we are going to have successful recruitment into the Reserve to get the kind of numbers we want and have targeted, then they must believe that they have a function as opposed to solely focusing on training with very limited opportunities to support and supplement the Permanent Defence Forces. This is a signal, and I hope it will be taken as that, that I am, and this Government, are very anxious to build up the Reserve, and not to see any further reductions, and to ensure that it has a very real role to play so that we can use the skill set it provides in parallel with and complementing the significant skill set that we have within the Permanent Defence Forces.

Of course, as might be expected, following on from the legislative changes to introduce the concept of voluntary military service for members of the Reserve Defence Forces, there is a requirement to make a number of technical or consequential amendments to the Defence Acts 1954 to 2015.

Members will have my full script but for reasons of time, I will skip over some of the technical elements which I do not think are needed to add to the debate. In summary, the purpose of the sections of the Bill relating to the Reserve Defence Forces is to provide the legislative basis by way of enabling provisions to allow members of the Reserve to serve in support of the Permanent Defence Forces at home and overseas on a voluntary basis.

Moving on to the other provisions of the Bill, sections 12 and 13 make some minor amendments to the Defence Act and provide for the repeal of a redundant section, which is section 318. Section 12 provides for a minor amendment to section 178E of the Defence Act, which deals with appeals to a summary court martial. The amendment clarifies the timeframe in which a summary court martial may consider an application for an extension of time to submit an appeal to the court martial. Section 13 contains some minor amendments to the Defence Act to provide for the restatement in modern form of section 74 relating to the discharge of reservists elected to public office and the repeal of the now redundant section 318. Finally, section 18 is a standard provision which deals with the Short Title of the Bill as well as arrangements for the commencement of the legislation.

In conclusion, this Bill deals with important matters that need to be addressed. Indeed the removal of the absolute prohibition currently contained within the Defence Acts on members of the Reserve Defence Force serving overseas is a significant change, which will make a strong statement in law about the ambition that I have for the future of the Reserve.

Before concluding my contribution I want to move away from the provisions of the Bill for a moment and take the opportunity to thank the Defence Forces once again for their continuing role in the context of the Covid-19 emergency, where they have made a very significant, welcome and necessary contribution. I am very pleased to submit this legislation to the Seanad and I look forward to hearing Members' comments on the Bill.