Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I rise today again to discuss the Defence Forces and the press fest there is around what has happened in Limerick. No workplace in this country is immune from bullying and harassment in the workplace. Eight years ago, I raised in this House the possibility of bringing bullying in under criminal offences. I never wanted to speak about my own experiences publicly but I was bullied severely and I am not a small, insignificant individual. The result of it was that when I took the matter in hand and went through the process, I finished up in an office for seven years away from the school I taught in and in a classroom outside of the school, with a principal who was not allowed to engage with me under any circumstances.

Bullying, therefore, happens everywhere. People get horrible lives in this country and too many people shut their eyes to what is going on. Let us not crucify the Defence Forces because tomorrow morning, if there is a national disaster in this country, the first people we will turn to will be the Defence Forces. When Covid-19 hit this country and we needed people to go out there and put their lives at risk, it was the medicals and the Defence Forces who did it, and did it willingly every time.

Today, 300 of our soldiers are in the Lebanon and the Israelis are lining up on the border ready to attack in Lebanon. It is our soldiers who will be there and, damn me but we should be proud of the men and women who serve in uniform in this country and not go to lynch every single one of them because of the actions of a small few.

Any civil servant in this country who commits a criminal offence is not obliged to report it. The standard for the military is set much higher than is set for any other organisation in the State.

If we are going to talk about the military and the Defence Forces, then let us talk about the failure of politics to review Defence Forces regulations and to ensure that the regulations are commensurate with what is required in modern society. Just because one thug walks downtown and hits out at an innocent lady, let us not to blame every single guy or girl who ever wore a uniform.

I wore my uniform proudly. Last Saturday I was in Galway with An Chéad Chathlán Coisithe and I was proud to be there with the men and women I served with in the Defence Forces. I am very much asking our journalists that if they want to have a fest about bullying in the workplace, about sexual harassment or sexually inappropriate behaviour, then look at the Prison Service, at the Garda, at health, at education, at every workplace in the country, at every political party in the country and at every organisation in the country because it is going on everywhere. Let us be a little bit more honest in our dealings.