-----but I will do what I can to get as much clarity as possible.

The response I have here states that it is clear that the reduction of these pensions is not arbitrary. It is provided for under legislation and is done on foot of a bona fide decision by the Minister after careful consideration of the specific circumstances of the individual case. The person or his or her solicitor is advised of the statutory provisions and of the potential implications of his or her application. Representations are invited regarding the person's circumstances, details of the compensation actually…

I will again outline the purpose of the legislation as it was put together. The underlying objective of section 13(2) is to prevent double compensation in respect of the same disablement. That is what it is specifically trying to do. Compensation of the kind in question would usually result from a civil action for damages against the Department of Defence but compensation received from any other source is, of course, not excluded. If somebody takes a civil case against the Department for injuries or disablement lin…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 97, 99, 103, 111 and 120 together. There are several Deputies here so I hope the Acting Chairman will give me some latitude when answering these questions. As of 31 December 2021, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force was 8,468 personnel, or 89% of the agreed establishment of 9,500. While the Government remains committed to returning to, and maintaining, the agreed strength of each branch of the Defence Forces, there are a number of factors, many of which are hard to predict, …

The Deputy highlighted an important area. The way in which we solve the recruitment and retention issues in the Defence Forces will not simply be through a large intake in a very short space of time, because that has consequences from the perspective of training, command and control, experience and so on. That is why we have an ongoing discussion with the Defence Forces and the Chief of Staff and his team, on how we can maximise the number of people coming in each year and, at the same time, ensure we have appropri…

All I can say to the Deputy on that is we will not have to wait for much longer to get recommendations from a very experienced group of people, led by a very able former Secretary General of the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Justice and Equality. I would be very surprised if they recommended a reduction in numbers in any of the services within the Defence Forces. In fact, I expect it will be quite the opposite. We have capacity challenges and problems that need to be addressed throughout all t…

I absolutely understand those arguments. As someone who regularly visits the naval base and other military barracks, I am very familiar with the fact that talented people in the Defence Forces are being enticed all the time out of the Defence Forces and into other jobs. If one looks at where the economy is going and the prediction to create another 167,000 jobs, which I think was the estimate this week, there is considerable talent in the Defence Forces that the private sector may well look to target. We have to ma…

On the image of Deputy Durkan being in the Defence Forces, while the retirement age issues are something we have been considering and, as Deputy Brady and others will be aware, we managed to get agreement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in terms of the post-1997 contracts issue for the vast majority of people who have been impacted by that, and I hope to be able to conclude those discussions to ensure everybody is accommodated in that regard, we will continue to have that discussion. That is a …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 98, 102, 113, 122, 124 and 146 together. As I outlined earlier to the House, on Tuesday last, following Cabinet approval, I announced the establishment of a judge-led independent review group to examine issues relating to sexual misconduct, bullying, harassment and discrimination in the Defence Forces. The overall aims of the review are to advise on whether the current legislative frameworks, policies, procedures and practices for addressing incidents of unacceptable behaviour in th…

There were a number of questions. Of course, I recognise Holocaust Memorial Day, and I will attend an event this afternoon, and another event on Sunday, to mark the Holocaust. I look forward to attending those events to mark the horrors of the Holocaust and to ensure it will not be forgotten in any way. On the other questions that were asked, we are trying to get the balance right in respect of getting a report with recommendations that have teeth in order that I, along with the Chief of Staff and the Secretary Gen…

-----and get recommendations. I certainly do not want to drive any form of division. I have absolute respect for the Women of Honour group. We met for one hour, after which the meeting concluded. I am available at any point to meet the group again, should they want to meet, and to answer any questions they may have. I hope, as I said, that this new review group will be able to build a relationship with this group of women, who have shown extraordinary courage to be able to highlight these issues and drive change in…

First, the whole point is I am not making that work. This is not a review that is being undertaken by the Department of Defence. It is a review being undertaken independently, with an independent chair, a former High Court judge, and a very experienced HR reform consultant, who has spent the last 12 months looking at some of these issues already through her work with the Commission on the Defence Forces. The whole point is to take it out of the Department of Defence, the Defence Forces and, quite frankly, the polit…

My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure the operational capacity of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service is maintained and developed. This is to enable the Defence Forces to carry out the roles assigned by Government, as set out in the White Paper on defence. Equipment priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are being considered in the context of the lifetime of the White Paper on defence as part of the capability development and equipment development planning, EDP, process. Further additions…

We will probably have that commission report in the next two weeks, so we do not have to wait very long to get it.

I will have to give a quick answer as we are tight on time. The mental health and well-being strategy for the Defence Forces, which was launched by me on 2 December 2020, recognises the unique nature of the experience of military life in Ireland. The aim of the strategy is to provide a co-ordinated and effective mental health and support system for the personnel of the Defence Forces through the adoption of a series of measures between 2020 and 2023. Eight supporting objectives - governance, resilience, suicide, st…

We have a standard we comply with on this.

We have a significant investment programme that is under way, spending tens of millions of euro on physical infrastructure, and we will continue that investment in the years ahead.

I thank the chair, Senator Chambers, and the other members of the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union for their excellent final report. I was struck by the wide and diverse range of contributors from government, Northern Ireland, business, academia and civil society that fed into the committee's deliberations. Listening to those varied voices has ensured the committee captured the wide impact of Brexit on our society more generally as well as on the econom…

I will try to respond to as many questions as I can. I thank the Seanad again for this timely report. The consistent support from across the political spectrum in both the Dáil and the Seanad has been a vital element of efforts to mitigate the challenges of Brexit on the island over a sustained period. Unfortunately, we will be dealing with the impacts of Brexit for some time to come. I remain committed to engaging with Members from all parties - Government and Opposition - in the months ahead. The Government conti…

I thank colleagues for their initiative in tabling this motion on the Antarctic Treaty System in the Seanad. I assure them we are taking it very seriously; that is why I am here. The wide-ranging provisions of the Antarctic Treaty System are intended to facilitate access to Antarctica for peaceful purposes, to promote scientific co-operation and to govern the relationship among states involved in the Antarctic region. The Antarctic Treaty System comprises the Antarctic Treaty 1959, the Convention for the Conservati…