Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I thank the Tánaiste for taking this Bill. It is welcome in this House that we are having far more debates on defence and security. There is a clear commitment on the part of the Government to address some of the issues concerning recruitment. More can always be done. I also welcome the indication given by the Tánaiste that there will be other legislation coming before the House to deal with some other matters, so I will confine my matters specifically to the provisions within this Bill.

I welcome section 19, which concerns the protection of the title Óglaigh na hÉireann. I am grateful to the Tánaiste for his kind words in this regard and indeed the work of the officials in the Department of Defence for incorporating into this Bill the measures within the Private Members’ Bill I introduced to protect the title. Those who serve are entitled to have the title Óglaigh na hÉireann protected. They serve this country with great distinction. There are those who try to besmirch the title by misusing it, so I am glad that those who will try to do that in the future will be regarded as having committed an offence. The protection is very welcome.

Although there are reservations, I welcome that the Bill will allow PDFORRA and RACO to join ICTU if they so choose, even on an associate level. It will be critical to have meaningful ways in which the representative groups can engage in pay talks, such that they will not be left entirely outside the room. I get that they have a very specific function, but there are certainly provisions within this legislation that are quite welcome.

Much of the discussion has been about the external oversight body. It is very welcome that it is going to be set up. As the Tánaiste acknowledged, it is critical to remember that this is not a representative body. The idea is not to have one person from this sector and another from that sector, each being a representative of the sector from which he or she comes. That said, it is important that the legislation states at least one person should have direct leadership experience of military transformation in another jurisdiction. I am a little worried about some of the restrictions on membership related to having served in the Defence Forces and so on. It is going to be critical, given the very specialised area to be overseen by the body, that the people who sit around the table have sufficient levels of military defence knowledge. This is not an external oversight body of a particular profession; it has a very clear and specific remit. Given the history of much of what went on in the Defence Forces, this matter needs to be considered to ensure a sufficient number of individuals with

military defence and security knowledge. Maybe the minimum number – “at least one person” – could be increased.

I have dealt with many cases related to the next issue I wish to raise. Under section 22, on the insertion of the Thirteenth Schedule, certain people are excluded from membership of the oversight body. I can understand why Members of the Oireachtas and the European Parliament are to be excluded, but once again members of local authorities, simply because they are such members, are to be excluded from consideration.I do not see any reason people who may have the talents required, the experience of governance, management or public administration, or a military background would be excluded from membership of the oversight body simply because they happen to be elected to or co-opted onto a local authority. I have regularly raised such issues about State bodies. We made some progress when Taighde Éireann was established recently. The only people who were excluded because they were elected representatives were TDs, Senators and Members of the European Parliament, for obvious reasons. Members of local authorities were not excluded from consideration. I do not understand why somebody who may have the necessary expertise should be excluded simply because he or she is a member of a local authority. On Committee Stage, I hope consideration will be given to an amendment to that effect.