Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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135. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if it is standard procedure for members of the Defence Forces to be suspended while either being under investigation or being prosecuted for violent offences or otherwise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28160/24]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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136. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the current strength of the Defence Forces; his targets for recruitment; the year by which he intends to reach the Level of Ambition 2 requirement of 11,500 personnel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28162/24]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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137. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the timeframe in which the recommendations of the Comptroller & Auditor General’s 2014 report on stock management in the Defence Forces will be implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28163/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In 2022, the C&AG commenced an examination of stocks held by the Defence Forces to assess the adequacy of the controls in place to manage, value and correctly account for that stock, with a particular focus on the implementation of the 2014 Dunning report recommendations. Following on from that examination, the Comptroller & Auditor General’s (C&AG) report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2022, published in September 2023, included a chapter on stock management in the Defence Forces.

The C&AG report included six recommendations, as follows –

1. The full implementation of the remaining Dunning report recommendations should be actioned in a timely manner. An implementation plan with delivery targets and milestones should be put in place. [Note: At the time of the C&AG Report in September 2023, 21 of the 27 Dunning recommendations had been fully implemented, with significant work undertaken on the other six. Since then, a further 3 recommendations have been finalised and the remaining 3 are comprehended by recommendations 2, 3 and 4 below.]
2. The Department should carry out an evaluation of the current data cleansing and codification process, including the classification of assets to identify the factors giving rise to ongoing misclassification; and update the related guidance to ensure that stock and assets are correctly classified in future and that stock issued for use is removed from store account records accordingly.
3. Periodic (e.g. annual) reviews should be undertaken to ensure that the policy requirements are being actioned as intended and to ensure that all elements of the policy continue to suit the current and future needs of the Defence Forces.
4. The recommendations arising from the review of the stores set-up should be actioned on a timely basis. Also, the need to maintain a large number of low value store accounts should be assessed periodically.
5. A more widespread review of the stores should be undertaken to establish the underlying factors impacting the timely, physical disposal of all stock items and an action plan put in place to address the factors identified.
6. An additional control should be introduced, whereby the disposal of sensitive military items is formally certified on a timely basis by members of the relevant Board of Survey before these items are written off the stock management system. The disposal regulations should be updated to reflect these requirements.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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138. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the progress he has made ending the blanket exclusion of members of the Defence Forces from the protections of the Working Time Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28164/24]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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139. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence what procedures are in place for the reporting by army personnel of the discharge of a weapon during duty periods; if the military authorities keep track of discharges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28245/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My officials are advised by the military that on completion of a duty, the Duty Officer is required to complete and submit a duty report. Such a report includes details of any instances of the discharge of a weapon and as per DF Administrative Instructions all routine reports by duty personnel are retained at unit level for a set period. In addition, my officials has been advised that all instances of discharge of a weapon will also be reported immediately to the Senior Duty Officer who will in turn report to the installation commander who will determine further necessary actions.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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141. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence how personnel with convictions for violence, domestic and or otherwise, are allowed to remain in service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28319/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I wish again to express my unequivocal condemnation of any form of gender-based violence. Such behaviour has no place in a modern society or in the Defence Forces.

It is also important that I note at the outset the pride we share in the vast majority of the men and women of the Defence Forces who serve the nation so admirably at home and on peacekeeping missions abroad. The actions of a minority completely go against the values of the Defence Forces and have no place in a modern workplace, particularly an organisation which is there to protect.

The Defence Act 1954 provides for the dismissal or discharge of members of the Permanent Defence Forces for prescribed reasons. Section 50 of the Defence Act provides for the dismissal of Officers by the President for prescribed reasons which are set down in Defence Force A15.

Enlisted personnel of the Permanent Defence Forces may be discharged for any one of the twenty-six reasons identified in Defence Forces Regulations, DFR A10 including under Para 58 (m), ‘ a result of conviction by the Civil Power’.

Of note however, discharges are not carried out until it has been ascertained that no appeal against the conviction is pending, or, where an appeal has been made, until the appeal has been heard and determined.

Let me be quite clear about this. The Defence Forces is not a place where someone who has been convicted of serious offences, including sexual offences or domestic or gender-based violence, can continue to serve.

As I have said, I have issued an instruction for the placement with immediate effect, of serving personnel in the Defence Forces who have been convicted of sexual assault or rape and awaiting discharge, or who have been charged and awaiting trial, on local leave, on a without prejudice basis. The ability to take this measure is already captured in Defence Force Regulations and I have been clear that it must be applied uniformly in all such cases.