Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the Tánaiste's proactive response to the Women of Honour. Indeed, as we welcomed An Tánaiste earlier, I welcome my colleague and Minister of State, Deputy Burke, to the House.

It is important to state at the outset for context that the Defence Forces are of the highest calibre, they bring honour to our country and they provide an exceptional service to our country. Currently, members of our Defence Forces serve in Lebanon in very difficult conditions. Among them is the son of Senator Wilson, and I am sure his dad is very proud of him, and a number of others from my county whom I know and I know their families. We can be very proud of these people. It is because our Defence Forces are of such calibre, add lustre to our State and bring honour to themselves and our State that the minority, and I stress the word "minority", who sullied their name must be outed in every sense of the word.

I acknowledge the appointment of Ms Justice Ann Power to do this work. As was said earlier, she is a person of great eminence.

Before I go into more of the detail, as I saluted our Defence Forces in general and their personnel, I also salute the Women of Honour who, I gather, are among us today. They have shown great courage, persistence and resilience. They deserve great credit. It is very difficult to do what they did. It takes great strength to do what they did and they persisted with it, so I salute that. They do the Defence Forces, themselves, their families and the country a great service in that regard.

To go briefly through some the background, in January 2022, the Government approved the appointment of a judge-led independent review to examine dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces. Although not a fact-finding issue, the report revealed a pattern of unacceptable behaviour, misogyny, discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct within the Defence Forces, and that is a litany that should not be there.

The report of the independent review group, IRG, was published, following Government approval, in March 2023.The Government then accepted the recommendation to establish a statutory inquiry and a tribunal. The draft terms of reference were prepared in consultation with the Attorney General and shared with a variety of interests in 2023. I am very happy that, in preparing for this tribunal, the Tánaiste held meetings with the stakeholders, including: the key group, namely, the Women of Honour; the Men and Women of Honour group; the Secretary General of the Department of Defence; and civil and civilian employee trade unions – the various representative bodies. That was important by way of setting the terms of reference. All groups and individuals who contacted the Tánaiste’s office were consulted and these views were considered.

In July 2023, the Government approved the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry pursuant to the provisions of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. On Tuesday, 16 January 2024, the Government approved the terms of reference for the tribunal being established to examine the effectiveness of the complaints processes in the Defence Forces concerning workplace issues relating to discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and the use of hazardous chemicals. That is wide, and should be. It is important – this was referenced earlier - that new allegations, complaints and statements of evidence can come forward during the lifetime of the tribunal. It is also important that the Garda has and will be following up specific allegations. It is vital that no member of the Defence Forces should be exempt from the common law of the country. Nobody is suggesting the contrary and it is important that it should not be the case.

The Women of Honour who are represented here – we are delighted to see that – suggested the addition of physical torture, physical assault and psychological harm as a definition of abuse, the inclusion of the Protected Disclosures Act and the investigation of whether complaints were actually deterred. It is of crucial importance that when we arrive at the end of this, not only must we get justice for the individual women and not only must the perpetrators go through the rigours of our law and the necessary sentences thereafter but that we have systems in place within the Defence Forces that will respond immediately to any such allegations and that the very existence of such a system, such methodologies and such transparency in themselves will be a deterrent. In fact, if sufficient systems of inquiry, sufficient responses, a sufficient complaints procedure and proper protocols exist, that in itself will deter wrongdoing. However, of course, it will not completely remove wrongdoing and it is for that reason that it must exist. That must be an outcome from this.

I return, in that respect, to my fundamental, initial point that our Defence Forces are of such importance to us all, such a part of a national apparatus and we are so proud of them that there cannot be a system in place that will allow anyone to sully that. Those who have damaged that and brought dishonour to the Defence Forces should be outed in every sense of the word and become the subject of proper criminal investigation.

Thankfully, we have arrived and our society constantly evolves. Our State matures, our society evolves and new values appear.Among the vast majority of people, there is a recognition that the treatment of women who were in non-traditional roles and what were not the stereotypical roles for them historically and the treatment of women in new roles to which they are perfectly suitable and properly entitled to hold left a lot to be desired in some instances. The women who came into the Defence Forces were pioneering, as were those who came into a lot of new bodies and new areas of work. They were trendsetters and adventurers because they were going into what were not traditionally or necessarily understood by the culture of the time to be female roles. These women took the lead and established a new situation. Because of their courage and the pioneering nature of what they did, there was naturally a reaction. Misogyny was a natural and unfortunate reaction in a small minority of people. That misogyny manifested itself in some ghastly ways. It needs to be stamped out. We have arrived at a situation in our country whereby there is no longer a tolerance for this type of behaviour. People no longer accept that this kind of thing can or should exist.

This is a good day's work. I welcome the tribunal. I hope it is speedy and efficient in doing its work, that it recommends new structures, systems and protocols for dealing with complaints and that there will be action and, subsequently, the necessary criminal proceedings against wrongdoers. I will leave it at that.