Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces stated that he was not aware of the level of sexual harassment and sexual violence in the Defence Forces until he spoke to the Women of Honour. The Defence Forces knew since 2000 about the prevalence and the extent of sexual violence throughout the organisation. They knew from the PhD I wrote, which was published in 2000, that one in four females was a target of sexual assault. This was confirmed by an independent Government inquiry in 2003 by the study review group, which investigated my research. I asked for that independent Government inquiry from the then Minister for Defence, Michael Smith, so that this would be put on the record. The military authorities have known for 23 years about the level of, and the prevailing culture of, sexual violence within the organisation. I support the Chief of Staff, in the five years he has, to lead the transformation that is required, as set out in the independent review group's report. I am going to write to Deputy Flanagan, who is the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, to ask him to have the Chief of Staff come and answer specific questions about what he says he knew or did not know. As the Women of Honour say in today's Irish Examiner, they find it very hard to believe he did not know about it because everybody else did. That is the whole point of the independent review group; that the organisation from the top down perpetuated a system of sexual violence and, more importantly, denial, gaslighting and reprisal. I wish the Chief of Staff the very best of luck in leading this transformation. Within 24 hours of the publication of this report, in his first official public engagement, he said he did not know about the violence, despite the ample evidence on the public record. There have been Government inquiries on which a lot of taxpayers' money has been spent and a lot of damage has been done in the meantime. There are very serious questions to be answered. The Chief of Staff needs to come here and tell us what he knew or did not know, and he needs to answer those questions. It is a very bad start. To be honest, it is not a credible position.