Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 March 2023
8. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [8122/23]
View answer9. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [9674/23]
View answer10. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [9975/23]
View answer11. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [10050/23]
View answer12. Deputy James Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of his Department, to oversee the implementation of the high-level action plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [10065/23]
View answerI thank the Deputies for their questions and I propose to take Question Nos. 8 to 12, inclusive, together.
The high-level action plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, agreed by the Government in July 2022, sets out that the initial implementation and oversight structure would comprise a high-level steering board chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, an independently chaired implementation oversight group and an implementation management office. The high-level steering board, whose membership comprises the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, the Secretaries General of the Departments of Defence, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, and Environment, Climate and Communications, and the chair of the implementation oversight committee, will hold their first meeting today.
The board will steer the implementation oversight group and provide guidance where necessary as well as acting as a clearing house for issues or blockages in the implementation of the commission’s recommendations. The implementation oversight group has met four times to date, most recently last week, and is overseeing and driving the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission. The civil-military implementation management office, which was established last year, is in the advanced stages of developing a detailed draft implementation plan and implementation of the early actions as set out in the high-level action plan under the stewardship of the oversight group. To date, approximately two thirds of these 38 additional actions have been achieved and progress continues on the remaining early actions. A comprehensive update on all the early actions will be published soon.
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 implementation of these actions, the vast majority of which were at an advanced stage. We have had a commission report, a high-level action plan, an implementation management office, an implementation oversight group, a high-level steering board and from what the Taoiseach just said, a work-in-progress implementation plan, to focus on 38 of 130 recommendations. The Government is approaching three years in office and given that it is now March, what progress has been made in the intervening months?
There is a serious recruitment and retention crisis in our front-line uniform services. In recent weeks, we have seen clear evidence in the shortage of paramedics and ambulance staff and we know it is proving very difficult to recruit gardaí, and many are leaving due to the working conditions and to levels of abuse and assaults. These developments add to a trend that has long been apparent in the Defence Forces. As was revealed in reply to Deputy Brendan Howlin two weeks ago, the strength of our Defence Forces has fallen below 8,000 for the first time in decades. We have a major shortage of sailors, soldiers and aviators. A further two ships, the LÉ Róisín and the LÉ Niamh, are to be mothballed because there are not enough personnel to keep them at sea. Recruitment during 2022 was notably lower than in previous years. The establishment's strength is meant to be at 9,500 and if we are to reach level of ambition two, the strength should be 11,500. That target simply is not achievable in the next few years without radical change. The same trend is being seen in An Garda Síochána. Clearly, there needs to be a focused review of why so many gardaí and Defence Forces personnel are leaving. The wages and terms and conditions of employment simply are not attractive enough. Does the Taoiseach intend to set up the special task force the Garda Representative Association, GRA, has called for?
Next week will be the 100th anniversary of four massacres that took place during the Civil War in County Kerry. The first was carried out by anti-treaty IRA troops at Knocknagashel on 6 March resulting in five people dead. The other three were carried out by the Free State army at Ballyseedy, Killarney and near Cahirsiveen on 7, 8 and 12 March. In total, 17 prisoners of the Free State were killed in those three atrocities. At Ballyseedy, the Free State army tied prisoners to each other and tied them to a barricade that they had mined themselves. So grotesque was the result that it is said that the birds ate flesh from the branches of the trees for days afterwards. Historians have shown that the Minister for Defence, General Richard Mulcahy, lied to the Dáil when he said the mines had been laid by the anti-treaty IRA. The Dáil record was never corrected. As the leaders of the two Government political parties that originate from the Civil War forces, both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste should make statements to the Dáil next week correcting the official record of Dáil Éireann and condemning the war crimes that were committed in County Kerry 100 years ago by both sides, including by the forces of this State.
My question to the Taoiseach relates to the report of an independent review that is to be given to the Minister for Defence, Deputy Micheál Martin, today into allegations of bullying and harassment in the Defence Forces, namely, the women who featured in the high-profile radio documentary, "Women of Honour", in late 2021. These are female Defence Forces members who acted as whistleblowers in regard to their own treatment of bullying and sexual harassment in the military. The Minister for Defence said he is fully committed to ensuring that every member of the Defence Forces has the right to undertake his or her duties in a safe environment underpinned by dignity and equality and in a culture of zero tolerance for any kind of bullying, discrimination, harassment or sexual abuse.
My question is similar to the question I asked earlier. The report is to be handed to the Minister today. Following that, it is to be reviewed by the Attorney General. The Minister will bring the report to Government for consideration and subsequent publication but there is no timeline on the publication of the report. Similar to the earlier case of the abortion review, we need a timeline for such reports. We cannot leave these women waiting. It is a year since that report was commissioned, and more than a year since the documentary. That is a long time for them to wait.
I thank the Deputies for their questions. Regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces, the high-level action plan sets out the initial implementation and oversight structures. The high-level steering board is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, and that oversees delivery. The implementation oversight group has been established to monitor the implementation of the recommendations approved by the Government. The group, chaired by Ms Julie Sinnamon, has met four times to date. The most recent meeting was held on 27 February 2023. Some recommendations are considered a priority and these are the ones which will be implemented first. A civil-military implementation management office has been established, initially focusing on the 38 early actions set out in the high-level action plan, and the production of an implementation plan. Work is at an advanced stage on the implementation of these 38 early priority actions, including the development of an implementation plan. The implementation plan will clearly set out the work that is to be progressed this year and indeed beyond.
In regard to the issue of the report on the "Women of Honour", a judge-led review was established by the then Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, following Government approval. It has examined those very systems, policies and procedures for dealing with issues relating to bullying, discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in the Defence Forces, as well as the prevailing workforce culture. I am fully confident that this review has been a necessary and critical first step to address the need for a safe work environment for serving members, with zero tolerance for such unacceptable behaviour. The chair of the independent review group, Ms Justice Bronagh O'Hanlon, submitted the final report to the Minister for Defence on 2 February. He is now considering the report in full in consultation with the Attorney General. Thereafter he will bring the report to the Government for consideration and assessment, with subsequent publication thereafter. There is a process to be followed but there will not be any undue delay in this regard. I do not intend to pre-empt any of the recommendations in the report but I reiterate that the terms of reference of the review are wide ranging and provide that the Government may consider further work on receipt of an independent review, including with regard to matters of an historical nature and how these might be best pursued and further inquired into.
With regard to steps we are taking to address recruitment and retention issues in the Defence Forces, I acknowledge that we have a severe problem with recruitment and retention but this is not in any way unique to the Defence Forces or, indeed, unique to Ireland. Recruitment and retention are major challenges across all sectors of our economy, public sector and private sector, low-paid jobs and high-paid jobs. In many ways that is a feature of the fact that we are now close to full employment with more people working in Ireland than ever before, youth unemployment close to an all-time low and female workforce participation close to an all-time high. We need to be mindful of that context. When we approach full employment, we will see recruitment and retention difficulties throughout the public and private sectors, not just in areas where there was traditionally a problem. The world of work has changed. People are less likely to commit to a job for life, or a career for life, in the way they did in the past. That is I believe a good thing, by the way. Resignation rates from organisations in both the public and private sectors of 4% to 5% are now quite normal and 1% is low.
On the Defence Forces specifically, we have approved a move to increase the capability of the Defence Forces by an additional 2,000 personnel, beyond the current establishment figure of 9,500. The immediate focus is on stabilising the staffing situation and bringing the strength up to 11,500 by 2028, including a civilian component. There is ongoing general service and direct entry recruitment. A separate recruitment competition has been launched specifically for the Air Corps. Direct entry competitions are ongoing as are the re-entry schemes for former members of the Defence Forces. The Be More recruitment campaign launched last year highlights the career opportunities available in the Defence Forces, and the wider benefits of membership. Measures being implemented include service commitment schemes in the Air Corps and the Naval Service and a seagoing naval personal tax credit. Pay has improved as a result of increases arising from the Public Service Pay Commission report, recent pay agreements and the early implementation of some of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces. Two of these recommendations, namely, personnel of three-star private able seaman rank being paid the full military service allowance applicable to the rank and the removal of the requirement that the cohort mark time for the first three years at that rank, have had a substantial impact on starting pay rates in the Defence Forces, which now compare more favourably with starting pay rates across the public service. There is scope for further income as well from duty allowances. From today, pay rates, including the military service allowance for the ranks of three-star private or able seaman in the first three years of service will have a starting salary of more than €37,000 rising to €38,500 in year 2 and just less than €40,000 in year 3.
Finally, Deputy Barry’s question is a fair question but probably not best dealt with in this type of format. The Civil War happened 100 years ago. Atrocities were committed on both sides, as he said, by the national army and also by the irregulars. Those atrocities were wrong and I acknowledge that but there is an appropriate place for us to deal with that and it is not at Taoiseach’s Questions on a random Wednesday afternoon.
