That is the intention. I have spoken to some of the serving personnel in this category and have asked them to be honest with me about their concerns. I have told them I will do everything I can to provide as much certainty for them as early as I can. I have effectively set myself the date for doing this as the end of the year. We will do it earlier if we can, as I said in the Seanad. If we can do it in the next few weeks, that is great. However, Deputy Howlin knows better than most in this House how the Department …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 86 together. I wish to reassure the House that this issue is a big priority for me. The meetings I had this week with the Women of Honour group and with serving women from the Defence Forces were deeply impactful, not only on me but on my Secretary General and indeed the incoming Chief of Staff. This is an issue we are going to get a handle on. We are going to put a process in place that will deliver real change. I say that very directly to the House. Anybody who chooses to e…

The first thing I want to do is to work with the women we have met, and who we will meet again, to try to finalise the terms of this review. I hope we will get the agreement and confidence of everybody that the people who are going to lead it are fit to do so. I would like to have international expertise as well as some very credible and strong Irish leadership. We have said that we are not going to rush this. It will take a few weeks to get it right and we must do that. Let us not forget that more than 20 years ag…

I will answer Deputy Gannon's question directly when I come back in.

I will answer it when I come back in.

It is important to say that significant efforts have been made to try to address this issue in the Defence Forces but they have not worked. Dr. Eileen Doyle, for example, did fantastic work on some of the independent monitoring group reports that she was involved in and her efforts are ongoing. Many people in the Defence Forces have also been advocating for change in this space. A women's network has been set up as well as a support network for LGBTQ communities within the Defence Forces. Confidential reporting sys…

I do not want to give an answer on my feet on that issue but I will look at it seriously. I am sure the Deputy understands how the chain of command works in the Defence Forces. It is a different environment from that which operates in the workplace for virtually any other person. That chain of command is necessary in terms of a functioning military but it also needs to be managed to ensure that people are protected. Just because somebody is a superior officer does not mean that he or she has a licence to control an…

What was the Deputy's question?

I do not have legal advice on that but I can get it.

The Deputy will be aware that WRC rulings are in the public domain and that the adjudicator, in his December 2020 ruling on two complaints brought by an individual, upheld one complaint on the grounds of gender discrimination in respect of promotion, owing to the treatment of absences in access to promotion contrary to section 8(1) of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 to 2015.  The adjudicator also found that there was no discrimination or victimisation against the complainant within the meaning of sections 2, 6(1…

On this case, I received a recommendation from the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces, which ruled that a person was not discriminated against when it was subsequently determined by the WRC that they were discriminated against. When a Minister gets a report from an ombudsman's office and disagrees with it, he or she undermines the ombudsman's authority and credibility. I have to trust in the systems that are in place and when recommendations come to me through an ombudsman's office or through other systems that are s…

The Deputy's comments on the impact that a small minority can have on large numbers of people and a potentially corrosive atmosphere within an organisation are very pertinent and is at the core of what we need to deal with.

That is likely to be part of the review because everything has to be on the table. My experience of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces office has been positive, by and large. It has to make judgment calls all the time. Cases are regularly referred to the ombudsman. The office makes recommendations, which the Minister has to accept or reject. The role of an ombudsman in the Defence Forces is important. What is important now, in the context of the stories that have been heard and the women who have come forward, is…

I thank the Deputy. I will happily meet him offline on this issue to give a fuller and more detailed briefing than I am able to give on the floor today, as things progress. As the he will be aware, the Asgard II sank in 2008 and the national sail training programme run by Coiste an Asgard was subsequently wound up. I understand a number of organisations are involved in sail training in Ireland and the Department of Defence currently provides funding to one of these organisations, Sail Training Ireland.  Sail Traini…

If anybody doubts the benefits of sail training, there are some interesting programmes in different parts of the world. From what I have seen, the Spirit of New Zealand is probably the best of them. Some people have perceptions of privilege around sail training, but it is the opposite. I have met a number of people for whom their service on the Asgard II , for example, changed the direction of their lives. We can use sail training proactively in a useful and constructive way to build confidence, teamwork, and self-…

There are complexities to building a boat. There may be more value for money in purchasing a vessel that is kitted out and suitable for this purpose. We have encountered complexities in the past building vessels. We need to be cautious that if we are contributing taxpayers' money, it represents full value for money and we partner with organisations that can provide transparency and good output. I am confident that we can do all of that. I am also confident that we have strong support in Northern Ireland to be part …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 106 together. The programme for Government committed to an independent commission to undertake a comprehensive review of the Defence Forces. This commission was subsequently established by the Government in December 2020, with a mandate to report within 12 months. The Government also approved the terms of reference, based on the programme for Government, and the membership of the commission. The commission’s overall approach will be guided and informed by the White Paper on D…

On the Deputy's last question, there is a governance and high-level command and control structure in the Defence Forces discussion within the remit. This involves, to a limited extent, the relationship of the Department of Defence. I am aware that the former Chief of Staff and the Secretary General of the Department had been working on an agreed approach towards that issue and have fed this into the commission's work, which I believe is understood by the chair of the commission. This work has been ongoing for quite…

We are investing in accommodation. In fact, we invested in accommodation in the Curragh Camp in recent years and I visited the upgraded accommodation in the past year or 18 months. We will continue to do that under the capital investment programme that is being rolled out. I take the Deputy's point regarding the Border issues and ensuring there is knowledge of the challenges that come with the history of the Border in the context of the Defence Forces. We have a former Chief of Staff on the commission, and, of cour…

Never let it be said that the Deputy was not speaking for Dún Laoghaire. He requested in a previous parliamentary question that the replacement of the LÉ Eithne would be twinned with Dún Laoghaire. I reiterate that I cannot make a commitment on this matter now but will bear it in mind when those decisions are made. The Deputy will be aware that official celebrations marking the Naval Service's 75th anniversary began in Dún Laoghaire Harbour, where the LÉ Samuel Beckett berthed overnight and departed the harbour her…