I again clarify for Deputy Moynihan that enlisted personnel can be discharged for any one of 26 reasons outlined and identified in Defence Forces regulations. Of the 68, somewhere in the mid-40s are still before the courts. We have to allow due process to take its course. I take a view, which I have made clear to the Chief of Staff, that where someone is guilty, particularly of a section 3 assault, which is a very serious offence - an attack on a woman or a male, or rape or sexual assault, there is no place for tha…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 67, 75 and 91 together. I thank the Deputies for their questions. I can confirm there has been engagement with the Chief of Staff and we met yesterday to discuss these very serious issues. Following a recent case, I was informed on Friday, 21 June of another case involving a member who is still serving after being convicted of assault causing harm. In light of this, I immediately requested a report from the Chief of Staff to find out how many serving members of the Defence Forces ha…

I said earlier that I think the level of violence in our society, against women in particular, is at an alarming level. People will say we had it in the past and so on. We have discussed this among other issues. I find it unconscionable, and I cannot understand how people can engage in such violence against fellow human beings on the streets or in any location. However, we have to do a deeper analysis of what is at play in society, and the role of social media and other factors. As far as I am concerned, however, a…

I am sorry. It is two years.

Peter Ward's function relates to assessing whether the existing Defence Forces regulations are fit for purpose in this context, as well as relating to the military liaison office, and carrying out a high-level analysis of it. There are 68 cases, going back about two years or maybe just a bit before that. The tribunal of inquiry is going to take a lengthy time. It is going back 40 years already, if not more. The idea we would then extend the terms of reference to cover every civil case over the past 40 years is not …

Yes, the terms of reference will be published tomorrow morning. I had hoped it would happen for Question Time tonight but I will have them published tomorrow, because I want to get a comprehensive analysis. People are saying we do not have this or that. I have to be careful because there is another case, on which we got a separate report, that is now in a process, but it is nonetheless clear there is inconsistency, a lack of follow-through, a lack of proactive management and a lack of collation of data, which is no…

It is simply not fit for purpose and that is manifest again in how this situation has evolved.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 109 together. As the Deputies are aware, retention is not influenced by a single factor. Rather, multiple interconnected factors are responsible for the retention of people in any organisation. In common with other militaries internationally, the Defence Forces are facing a challenging environment. As Minister for Defence, in addition to a programme of cultural transformation, my focus has been on stabilising the numbers of personnel and facilitating the capacity for further …

That will be provided for in legislation that is under way. My understanding is that was agreed by Cabinet and will happen. It is a minor legislative amendment. I think it is in the justice (miscellaneous provisions) Bill but I can confirm that for the Deputy. Following the most recent pay increases of 2.2% recruits, after doing the leaving certificate or whatever, on completion of training - which takes approximately 22 weeks and can be done - will now earn €39,714 in year one equating to €761 per week in year one…

To be fair, the move to the age of 60 was massive and was received very positively on the ground in the Defence Forces. I am conscious there are people who are nearing that age who are anxious we would progress the legislation to include the age of 62. I will come back to the Deputy with precise timelines. Whether we will get it through before the summer recess, or not, remains to be seen but I will speak to my colleagues in government because I think we are doing it through the justice Bill, if I am not mistaken.

Pardon?

That was very quick. The Bill will move to Committee Stage and then go the other House as well. We have two, maybe three weeks for the other House to get the Bill through which is good news.

The EU and its member states - including Ireland - have significant strategic interests in identifying and addressing security challenges linked to the coastal defence, and Ireland takes part in a range of EU initiatives in this regard. In October 2023, the European Union approved its revised European Union maritime security strategy and related action plan, aimed at addressing security challenges at sea and aligned with recent European Union policy frameworks and instruments, such as the strategic compass for secu…

Generally speaking, we need to be careful about the language that gets used in this domain. There is a lot of noise around the place about weakest links and all the rest of it. In terms of drugs, there was a very successful intervention last September involving Army Rangers, the Air Corps, the Naval Service, An Garda Síochána and Revenue. It was the largest cocaine haul in the history of the State. What struck me was, in the immediate aftermath of that there was a lot of negativity. There seems to be this knee-jerk…

If I can return to the Deputy's earlier question on Europe, we had the Committee Stage debate today and some Members were in attendance. There has been a nervousness in this House about participating in PESCO, for example. Historically, Ireland's level of participation has been low. For the life of me I cannot understand this. Tomorrow in the Dáil we will have the debate on this. We are participating in critical seabed infrastructure with other member states of Europe on a programme to try to understand it better a…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 97 together. I wish to reassure the Deputy of my ongoing commitment, as Minister for Defence, to the removal of the blanket exemption which currently applies to the Defence Forces in the Organisation of Working Time Act. Significant progress has been made recently on this body of work. Earlier this year, I approved the final management position, which was presented to me following extensive consultations involving the PDF representative associations and civilian-military mana…

The Deputy may have missed an earlier answer to this. I have progressed this. I have got agreement with the defence representative organisations on an agreed military management position following discussions. It has been sent to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The legislative process has commenced. I made it a priority when I became Minister for Defence to introduce the working time directive to the Defence Forces. I am determined that we complete this now. The process of legislation has commen…

We are progressing the legislation now. We agreed a position more than seven weeks ago; I would say perhaps two months ago.

That is all done now.

Apologies to the Deputy for interrupting. That is all done. That negotiation process is well and truly over for quite a while now. It has gone to the Department of enterprise. The next challenge is to make sure we get the legislation drafted and published and, with the co-operation of everybody in the House, to get it through the House. That would be the desired objective, probably now in the autumn session.