Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2021-09-30
============================================================

Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim

We have heard some ugly truths about how some people in positions of power continue, not to behave but to operate, because that is what it is: operating within a certain culture. Is it a minority or a majority? We do not know. I agree with my colleague that we should await outcomes and results.
Why have the reviews, structures and systems that have been put in place already not worked? I have no doubt there were some well-meaning people who tried hard. That is an important point, not just for the Defence Forces but for society at large.
We mentioned Dr. Tom Clonan. I wrote to the Minister, which I had never done before, to ask him, when appointing people to the inquiry, not that he appoint Dr. Tom Clonan but that he consider him with all qualified others, because of his extensive background and expertise.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-09-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-09-30