Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I listened carefully to what the Minister said and agree with much of it. However, on 26 April the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence published its detailed and considered pre-legislative scrutiny. The committee unanimously agreed that the oversight body should be totally independent and that the Secretary General should not be a member. It also agreed that if the Secretary General of the Department was to be a member of that body, then PDFORRA and RACO should also be represented.

In doing a little of research, I came across a publication by Benjamin Colton and Holly Fetter from Harvard Law School. They produced a report on corporate governance. It was about boards of oversight but related to business. There are some important points in it which we need to consider in relation to oversight of the Defence Forces. It states:

We believe that [the] employee voice is an important input for an effective human capital [strength], and can also advance a firm’s overall long-term ... strategy.

[...]

Having a pulse on [the] employee voice enables leadership to understand priorities, motivations, and expectations of the workforce, and allows employees to feel heard and included, which can drive a positive culture and increased retention. Employees can generate customer intelligence, share innovative ideas, and offer early warnings of organizational risk. 

A contributor to the article was quoted as saying:

Employee voice cannot be merely thought of as a collection of insights and feedback. Organizations need to understand how employee experience and priorities reflect the company’s culture and fit into talent management strategies, policies, and business performance.

The article goes on to say that their "research suggests that, when captured effectively, [the] employee voice can be a critical element for achieving business success." Replace the words "business" and "company" with "Defence Forces". That is all I ask the Tánaiste to do.

The paper in question also states, "A powerful model in addressing important employee topics is to ‘get your own business right first'". I appreciate that this is what the Tánaiste is attempting to do. The authors go on to make a number of important points. They believe, regarding corporate governance of boards of oversight, that the managing director should be part of the board, but so should the employee representatives. That is the point I am trying to make. I ask the Minister to take that on board. We are talking about transition and cultural change. That cannot be achieved by having one side of the story on an independent body; it has to have all sides of the story. The employees' side of the story will be represented by the representative bodies PDFORRA and RACO. That is all I ask the Minister to consider.