I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 7, 33 and 36 together. Despite the reforms that have taken place in the Defence Forces in the past 20 years with regard to dignity and equality matters, it is clear from the experiences shared by both current and former members of the Defence Forces, including the Women of Honour group and the men and women of honour group, that the culture that is prevailing and the application of policies, systems and procedures for dealing with unacceptable behaviour have not served and are no…

Deputy Troy raised the issue of the Women of Honour group. I intend to meet with those groups, prior to and after publication of the report. I received the report last month. I sent it to the Attorney General and I will be bringing it to Government very shortly. I hear conflicting reviews as to when it should be published. We cannot wait until after the recess either for publication. This will not be resolved in one day either. What I envisage is that I will make a statement to the House upon publication of the rep…

I do not intend to do it without Dáil debate, if that meets the Deputy's point. This is not something that can just be published and we all go on. This is going to take prolonged engagement from Members of the House as well as all stakeholders.

What I would say to the Government is that I do not think what happened was merely wrong; I think it was shocking and disgraceful. There is no justification. There has to be fundamental change. I have to go to the Government. The Government has to make decisions on the basis of this. This is the process. I will recommend decisions for the Government to take in respect of the report. There is a comprehensive range of recommendations. We have to take a position on those. I want to meet the groups prior to the Governm…

The Deputy was a member of the Government and knows they have to go to the Government first. He does know that. This affects every member of the Defence Forces. It really does. Every member of the Defence Forces is a stakeholder in this now in terms of the implications of the report and the follow-up action. I believe that we should try to facilitate an initial debate after the Government decision and after the publication of the report. Subsequently there is going to be further engagement. This is not going to be …

I do not want to go into the specifics. There are many recommendations. I am minded to follow through. I will be resolute in following through on this because it will be a watershed moment.

As I have said, I am not going into the specifics because we want to meet groups and we want to-----

The Commission on the Defence Forces was established on foot of a commitment in the programme for Government and the Government decision in December 2020, which also agreed its terms of reference and membership. The report was published on 9 February 2022. The commission undertook a significant body of work, encompassing wide-ranging terms of reference. It recommended significant changes for the Defence Forces and defence provision in Ireland. It covers high level Defence Forces' structures, defence capabilities, o…

Of the 130 recommendations of the commission, 48 have been accepted, 55 have been accepted in principle, 17 are subject to further evaluation and ten are to revert to Government. In respect of areas such as the chain of command and so on, I will revert to Government. In terms of the disposition of units and so on, there is work to be done and significant evaluation is required in respect of those recommendations. Later today, I will publish the up-to-date progress report on the delivery of these recommendations fro…

I look forward to visiting. I will visit all the barracks, as well as the navy and Baldonnel. I will also meet serving members of the Defence Forces and review progress at various barracks, in terms of infrastructure investment. I was in Kilkenny recently. A fantastic gym has been recently constructed there and we need more of that. We need to modernise the infrastructure in all of our barracks and across the Defence Forces. I look forward to following up on the visit to Custume Barracks. I am well aware of the sig…

The answer to that question is "Yes". As I said, because historically military life placed unique demands on individuals, it was considered necessary that Defence Forces personnel had to be prepared to meet the challenges of all military operations. The compulsory retirement ages for ranks in the Permanent Defence Force are considerably lower than in other employments. The Public Service Pay Commission, in its report on recruitment and retention in the Permanent Defence Force in 2019, included in its recommendation…

I accept the principle that Deputy Ó Cuív and other Deputies have put forward, including Deputy Fitzpatrick earlier. To be fair, I outlined in the reply that a significant move has been made in respect of 21 years' service, I believe, and going to 50 years of age. I accept the basic principle that the world has changed. Ireland has gained 25 years in lifespan for Irish people compared to 1922. There has been a dramatic improvement in lifespan in the past 20 years in respect of cardiac issues, disease survival, and …

There are some in here too.

The point I am making is that we have to apply that to the Defence Forces. There are wider issues in respect of the fast accrual pension, which is at the core of it. I believe we can resolve those, and if a move is made, the Deputies opposite will be the very first to come back and ask what about another group that deserves similar treatment and so on. That is why the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform are dealing with that but, in the interim, we are trying work through…

On the timeline issue, the Minister of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform is very clear that the interdepartmental group is not a mechanism for allowing something to be buried, or whatever, but it needs to be resolved quickly. The interim measures I am talking about are within a much shorter timeframe.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I wish to confirm that the WRC recommendations on anti-discrimination law arising from a decision in December 2020, are currently being implemented by the military authorities with the support of my officials. As the Deputy will be aware, the WRC adjudicator directed, in the first instance, that a comprehensive review of training and information materials, instructions and local practices be undertaken within the Defence Forces to ensure their compatibility with the protec…

Having been briefed on this case, I believe that what happened was unacceptable. It is symptomatic of a wider problem, particularly concerning maternity issues within the Defence Forces and how they are dealt with. The Deputy will appreciate the work to implement the direction of the WRC is critical. While there has been progress to date, I have nevertheless directed that the process, including the roll-out of any remaining training and awareness programmes, be concluded as soon as possible, without any delay. To m…

What was happening was clearly out of line with normal practice in other workplaces. I have given very clear directions that there can be absolutely no discrimination or any processes or requests made of pregnant women within the Defence Forces that would not be contemplated in any other workplace.

Yes. I am very clear that there has to be a complete modernisation of approach to these issues within the Defence Forces. I have made that very clear.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 34 and 43 together. As I have already advised, the Defence Forces are currently excluded from the provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which transposed the EU working time directive into Irish law. I assure the Deputies that the Government remains fully committed to ensuring the provisions of the working time directive are applied, where appropriate, to the Defence Forces. This is in line with a Government commitment to remove the blanket exemption in the Org…