John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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1344. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will provide a service medal for members of the Defence Forces that were involved at Jadotville; if members of the Defence Forces will be acknowledged with a service medal for their tour of duty in the Congo; if retired members of the Defence Forces will be presented with the commemorative medal for 1916; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13842/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The issue of the award of medals to the men of “A” Company, 35th Infantry Battalion was comprehensively addressed in 1965. A properly constituted Medals Board considered the various cases presented and made a decision that no medals would be awarded. The Chief of Staff of the day considered the decision of the Board and was satisfied with the findings. Subsequently, the question was raised again in a letter to a newly appointed Chief of Staff. He forwarded the letter to the original Medals Board and asked that they reconvene and review their decision. The Board indicated that the issues raised had received due consideration and that they were not prepared to alter their findings. On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the Siege of Jadotville, I decided to issue a Unit Citation to honour the collective actions and bravery of the men of “A” Company. I organised and hosted a ceremony in Custume Barracks, Athlone on Saturday 17th September 2016 at which a Unit Citation was presented to the Company in recognition of their collective heroism and professional performance during the Siege of Jadotville whilst cut-off from support and reinforcements. During the ceremony I presented a copy of the Citation to each member of the Unit or next-of-kin in the case of deceased members. This was the first time a Unit Citation was awarded within the Defence Forces and I was delighted to be able to formally recognise the brave actions of these men. In addition, a specially commissioned insignia will be provided to the members and the next of kin of deceased members of “A” company in the coming weeks. These are awards that are used internationally by other militaries to recognise those Units that have served with particular distinction.

Recognition of service on UN Peacekeeping missions is made through the awarding of a UN Service Medal. The qualifying criteria for the award of a UN Service Medal were that personnel should have served on the UN mission for 90 days. An inspection of the records for the UN Congo mission in 1961 would indicate that serving personnel received a UN Service Medal on return to their Parent Unit in Ireland dating from 1962.

As part of the Programme for Government, it was proposed that a commemorative medal be awarded to all Defence Forces personnel, Permanent and Reserve, who were recorded as being in service in the course of 2016. Accordingly, retired members of the Defence Forces are eligible for the Medal if they were in service during 2016. The awarding of the 1916 Centenary Commemorative Medal is a special acknowledgement from the Government to the members of Óglaigh na hÉireann, both Permanent and Reserve, who have served during this centenary year of 2016. The medals were specially commissioned to mark the role the Defence Forces played in the centenary year. It serves to honour the central role of the Defence Forces across all seven strands of the Centenary Programme throughout 2016. They have played an essential role in our national commemorations, whether at the Commemoration at the GPO and the Parade on Easter Sunday, the ceremonies to mark the execution of the Leaders of the Rising or the formal delivery, to primary schools in the State, of our National Flag and a copy of the Proclamation. There are no plans to issue the 1916 Centenary Commemorative Medal to anyone who did not serve in 2016.