This is the debate we will have. The Deputy can shout things-----

I do have time and must say that the world has changed. The people I speak to recognise that the world has changed.

The people I speak to do not like the fact that Russia has essentially removed, or will remove in the coming months, all our peacekeeping troops from UNIFIL, where we have been for decades. That is because of the triple lock. That is what we are trying to amend and adjust, not anything else, contrary to what is being suggested here.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I have met a number of the women from the Women of Honour. I have met them in my Department and in different manners or at different meetings. I have nothing but respect and admiration for each and every one of them. I fully appreciate and have no doubt that what they are going through now is retraumatising for many of them. I have no doubt that their having to tell their stories and experiences time and again is very traumatic and difficult for them. That is why, when I …

I thank the Deputy. I fully agree. What I want is to make sure that people are proactively engaged with and supported and that they are not handed a list requiring them to go off and try to find support themselves. That is exactly why I met with the Minister for Health and asked that there be something specific and tailored to the tribunal. I have already asked my officials to re-engage to make sure that, if there is information needed by the HSE so that what I have described can happen, and if it is not happening,…

I fully agree. For any tribunal or inquiry, particularly where we are talking about such sensitive information and such traumatic experiences, people must be trauma informed. That must absolutely be the case. We have been assured that those who are involved and who are engaged with the tribunal have been trauma informed and trauma trained. The type of training that has been provided was outlined at the public hearing on 16 June. I am committing to ensure that if there are gaps or issues, we will make sure that wher…

It is a matter for the judge to progress, but I am assured that people are trauma informed. I will take the Deputy's point and go back to my Department on it specifically to ensure that absolutely everybody has received that training.

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I know he is committed to this issue; I am too. I have in recent months spent some time travelling to different barracks and Army bases and meeting with personnel. What I see all over the country is their professionalism, dedication and commitment. I am proud of that, and I know they are take great pride in the work they do. The health, safety and well-being of our Defence Forces personnel is front and centre in everything that I and the Department do. When we talk about c…

I disagree that people are being pushed into the courts. The situation is exactly the opposite. I have said in the Chamber many times since I started taking these questions that the State Claims Agency is there and wants to mediate and work directly with people in order that cases do not go directly to the courts. Steps and procedures have been put in place over years so that people can seek mediation and can go through a process that is not adversarial and does not require them to go to the courts or to take on le…

Referring to other countries is not helpful in this instance because the situations are not comparable. We have 23 individuals who have brought forward cases, and I fully respect their right to do so. I would prefer it if, through that process, there was mediation in order that the issue could be resolved as quickly as possible. That has been the case for one of the people in question whose case was resolved satisfactorily. If people have issues and concerns, it is important that they come forward and raise their c…

We are all committed to strengthening recruitment to and supporting retention in the Permanent Defence Force. The military authorities have advised that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,823 personnel on 31 May, the most recent date for which we have a figure available. Last year saw modest though significant growth of nearly 200 in the overall strength, with a total of 790 inductions achieved. This is the highest number we have had in 20 years. The number of personnel who discharged was at its…

I agree that there are lots of things we need to do. It is not just about pay. We also need to invest in our accommodation and in equipment and technology. Our investment in counter-drone technology and radar equipment is something Defence Forces personnel are excited about. The level of training involved and the ambition there encourages people to want to be part of that, so we need to invest in our infrastructure with the aim of enabling greater levels of recruitment. I recently opened the university students’ ac…

I acknowledge our representative bodies. It is my intention to meet them late in summer. I will be writing to them to that effect. I have already spoken to some of them in respect of this matter. Obviously, whether it is public service pensions or anything else relating to the public service pay agreement, we are working and, where we can, engaging directly with the Department of public expenditure and reform. I have made very clear my views to the representative bodies on the progress I would like to make, but we …

If I could address the final issue, I am very conscious this has been going on for some time. We are engaging extensively with a number of different stakeholders, but I will come back to the Deputy on that.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I am aware that she has been engaging on this matter and has been trying to make progress. That is certainly something I want to see happen as well. This was looked at before, so there had been engagement previously when the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 was brought forward. At that time, a decision was taken for various reasons that it did not extend to offences under military law and so it would not be possible to include in the legislation at the time. While it…

From my previous answer, what I want to ensure is that there is a level of oversight and jurisdiction, where there needs to be. At the moment, I am not satisfied that is the case. I will not go into details on the individual in question or any individuals. I have relayed that there are certain things I cannot do at the moment because of how things stand. I am keen to make changes so that there is an appropriate level of oversight. I would again stress that a lot of people in the Defence Forces are very keen to make…

Once the GoFundMe campaign the Deputy mentioned was brought to the Army's attention it was taken down immediately. However, the very fact that it was up, or as the Deputy said, the content in it, was completely inappropriate. We need to continue to focus on a number of things. Legislative change is required so that there is oversight where it is needed. I am looking at that at the moment, not just in terms of the victims' charter but also in other ways. The external oversight body, which was only established in Apr…

I thank the Deputy for the role she has played and for her service to the State. I acknowledge all of those who have served on UN missions and who are currently abroad on missions. We recognise that overseas service is a core task of the Defence Forces. Many men and women join the Defence Forces because they want to take part in international peacekeeping and peace support operations. I envisage we will continue to play a significant role in this area in the decades ahead. We have to. We have to make sure we have t…

There are a number of things here. What I would like to see - unfortunately, it is not happening at the moment - is that we would have further UN Security Council missions. We have not had any new ones since 2014. That is because the Security Council is not operating as it should. We have other missions that our troops are currently on. A number of personnel are serving in Entebbe in Uganda and in the Middle East. At the moment, my concern for those troops is that those missions could come to an end in the same way…

I cannot commend our Defence Forces enough on the level of training our personnel get. That is evolving and changing all the time. I was recently in a barracks where there was new technology that enables our Defence Force personnel to train in tanks in a simulated fashion. It allows as many as possible of them to train where there is not the capacity in actual tanks. So, we are now using new equipment. It is Irish companies devising these types of technologies. It means they have the most up-to-date level of traini…