Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2023-06-20
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I met the Women of Honour group twice, including with the Taoiseach. I have met the group three times. I met PDFORRA and RACO, which represent serving members of the Defence Forces. I met the Irish Defence Forces Veterans Association. The Men and Women of Honour group also made representations. There is a different approach and so forth, but their views are legitimate too. The Secretary General met the Civil Service and civilian unions.
On the question, we agreed to the IRG's 13 recommendations. We are establishing the statutory inquiry to investigate whether there have been serious, systemic failures in dealing with individual complaints on interpersonal issues, including but not limited to sexual misconduct, which is one of the recommendations that has been implemented. I consulted the Attorney General about the establishment of the inquiry. His office has assisted in the preparation of the draft terms of reference. I just referred to meeting key stakeholders. There has been much interaction about the terms of reference to date. There will be further interactions. The Women of Honour group, through its legal representatives, forwarded substantive correspondence again today. There will be further engagement on those terms of reference.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-06-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-06-20