The Minister will be most aware that this week the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence met the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, and some of the general staff. The Chief of Staff confirmed that the current enlisted membership is 7,917, again evidencing the haemorrhaging of staff that we see from the Defence Forces. That equates to 83% of the establishment figure of 9,500. The Minister has said - it was confirmed to the committee - that the increase in established numbers under the high-leve…

I note the Minister did not answer the question. Will enlisted members and civilians be on the same conditions and rates of pay? The Defence Forces had a recorded turnover rate of 10.72% in 2022, the latest date for which figures are available. We have seen amendments to the sea service commitment but, at the same time, people have lost out on that payment because ships were essentially tied up in dock for reasons outside the control of Naval Service members. It has also been reported that a plan has been presented…

These questions are grouped.

Seven weeks ago, the Tánaiste stood in this Chamber and confirmed to me he was to receive the report that afternoon. Has the Tánaiste brought the report to the Attorney General? Has the Attorney General brought it back to him? Has the Tánaiste brought the report to his Cabinet colleagues? Will he engage with the stakeholders? Has he reached out to the stakeholders who were involved in that Katie Hannon documentary and stakeholders who came forward, after the Tánaiste established that group? Language is very importa…

No.

I agree with Deputy Connolly when she speaks of trust. For many years these women and others who have engaged in this process had their abuse belittled. They had their rapes, sexual assaults and all of those negative experiences belittled. In fact some of them were actually gaslighted in their own reporting of this. Nobody in this House disagrees with the statement that this is wrong. However, this needs to be the watershed moment we often speak about. We must fully commit as a House that this will never happen to …

Can the Minister provide an update on the steps that have been taken to date on the work regarding the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, ruling in December 2020 to roll out anti-discrimination training courses and materials to all Defence Forces personnel with staff responsibilities, which was due to be completed by the end of 2022?

I thank the Minister for that update. I have repeatedly asked this question over the past number of years and on the most recent occasion, I was told that this ruling was currently being implemented. There seems to be a substantial amount of greater detail in the answer he provided this time, which leads me to believe that this, while still a work in progress, is one that is nearing completion. The relevant handbook for the Defence Forces staff described in the finding is remarkable in two details. The provision re…

The WRC ruling was quite powerful. An unacceptable systemic failure was found. From what the Minister said, I believe he agrees with that ruling. Ms O'Rourke was awarded the maximum compensation plus interest by the WRC due to the extensive delay caused by the Minister for Defence objecting to her legal argument that EU law should apply and not withdrawing the objection until the eleventh hour. Will the Minister make a commitment to ensure these kinds of objections will be a thing of the past and not affect any oth…

But specifically on objections to the WRC.

Families are being told to go to the Garda station.

I listened to the Taoiseach's response, including about creating an inclusive and fair society. I raise an issue with him that has again come across my desk that is neither inclusive nor fair. A nine-year-old child living in my constituency has been told it will take between four and six years for urgent and extensive root canal treatment in the public system. To seek treatment privately would cost thousands of euro that this family, like so many others, simply does not have. Our dental care remains a postcode lott…

The Commission on the Defence Forces report in February 2020 contained 69 main recommendations and, together with sub-recommendations, brought the total to 130. The high-level action plan was published in July 2022 and accepted only 37% of those recommendations. Last November, the then Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, confirmed that the initial focus of that implementation management office was the implementation of 38 early actions. He told the House that significant progress had been made on the implementati…

As the national cybersecurity strategy mid-term review acknowledges, the security and resilience of network and information systems are vital for Ireland's continued security and prosperity. Critical national infrastructure and essential services rely on complex systems and data flows which are vulnerable to attack by cyber criminals and other sophisticated actors, as we saw recently in Munster Technological University, MTU. Under the Commission's cybersecurity strategy for the digital decade, the EU has pledged to…

I add my voice of thanks and commendation to the tireless workers from the National Ambulance Service and our paramedics. It is very clear that lives are being put at risk because of the Government's failure to resource the National Ambulance Service and support our paramedics. The HSE's own standards provide that 80% of life-threatening incidents should be responded to by an ambulance within 19 minutes. In the midlands, that response time has increased by 53% to 29 minutes since 2019. Every ambulance region is fur…

I wish to share time with Deputies O'Reilly and Ward.

I welcome the opportunity to debate the Bill. It is a piece of work identified in the White Paper on Defence to provide more modern aggregated legislation. Sinn Féin supports the Bill and the context in which the Bill is being brought forward. While the Bill does not propose any radical changes regarding the operation of the Civil Defence, we welcome the move to amend what is a convoluted regulatory framework consisting of enactments from as far back as 1939 to one single Bill that clearly sets out the role and res…

This is a significant loss of personnel, which is concerning. In those intervening years, many areas have experienced a decline in numbers as the age profile of those involved increased and the number of newer or younger members remained static or fell. Many units operate out of substandard accommodation. While I acknowledge progress has been made in recent years, I am concerned that there does not seem to be any parity of accommodation in which a local unit can grow, and extend its membership, training and functio…

I agree with the Minister on one thing; it is simply not right that people have to depend on food banks. I could not agree more, although, that is probably the point at which we diverge. I listened to what she said. I heard of pilot studies, future plans and everything that may or may not happen in the future, and therein lies the crux of the issue. What the Government is offering people is not solutions or immediate answers. It is a future that has no hope for them that they will see next week. It is an uncertain …

The Taoiseach's programme for Government makes over 50 distinct asks of local authorities across the country. This week, in Westmeath, our director of planning described staffing levels as the equivalent of a revolving door syndrome. At the same time, there has been a massive increase in complaints around unauthorised developments. This has the makings of an unmitigated disaster. Apparently, there are local authorities that do not have even one single planning enforcement officer. I have two questions. Which city a…