David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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828. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the plans his Department has in place to reflect in law the European Court of Human Rights ruling ECHR 280 (2014) which found that the blanket ban on trade unions within the armed forces is a violation of Article 11, freedom of assembly and association, of the European Convention on Human Rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9579/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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There have been a number of judgements by the European Court of Human Rights in respect of the French military and also findings in a recent case brought to the European Committee on Social Rights by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), the outcomes of which will require very careful consideration.

In a non-binding ruling, the European Committee on Social Rights (ECSR) found that current arrangements for industrial relations in An Garda Síochána are not in compliance with aspects of the European Social Charter:

- Article 5 of the Charter (the right to organise) on grounds of the prohibition against police representative associations from joining national employees’ organisations;

- Article 6.2 of the Charter (the right to bargain collectively) on grounds of restricted access of police representative associations to national pay agreement discussions; and

- Article 6.4 of the Charter on grounds of the prohibition of the right to strike of members of the police force.

In the light of these ECSR findings, a complaint to the Council of Europe about the lack of union rights for military Representative Associations in Ireland wasmade by EUROMIL a European ropean umbrella body for military associations, on behalf of PDFORRA. PDFORRA are similarly claiming most of the same violations of the European Social Charter as AGSI did, including denial of the right to join the ICTU, alleged restricted access to pay talks, and the prohibition on the right to strike.Detailed final submissions were lodged to the European Committee on Social Rights on 26^thFebruary 2016 setting Ireland’s position in the matter and we are awaiting now the outcome of the case.