Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Minister and very much welcome her emphasis on a greater increase in diversity within the Defence Forces.
In my constituency, my colleague Senator Diarmuid Wilson is a member of the defence and security committee and attended the event in Renmore Barracks last week. Several people referred to that particular event over the weekend at clinics and other gatherings I was at. This shows the general interest among the public in the well-being of our Defence Forces. It was good to see those people, the chaplain and his colleagues, being honoured in view of the very serious incident they faced. It is important that that good message, that the State looks after its members and cares for those who have faced particular challenges and have shown great bravery, is put out in the public domain. That was a good event and great credit is due to the Army and Department of Defence in organising it. People should be honoured when they go beyond the call of duty and take on specific challenges.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17