Women of Honour group welcomes Government commitment to hold tribunal

The Women of Honour group has welcomed a commitment from Minister for Defence Micheál Martin to hold a public tribunal of inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse and bullying in the Defence Forces.

Mr Martin told the Dáil on Thursday that the approach to be taken to the inquiry needed to be teased out in order to protect certain people “who might wish to come forward and not be in the public glare”.

Mr Martin met the Women of Honour group on Thursday evening. Following the meeting, a spokeswoman for the group described the meeting as “constructive”.

“He has told us he will be recommending a tribunal of inquiry to Cabinet, which is brilliant news for us,” she said. “We very much welcome that.

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“Obviously it is only as good as the terms of reference that come with it, but we have re-engaged on those terms of reference, and we are going to be working to come up with an agreement.

“Our understanding is that he will not be going forward with the terms of reference that were put forward, and that we will be in discussions to secure agreement on that. We are not currently on the same page on that.”

The spokeswoman added that the chances of an agreement being reached before the Dáil’s summer recess are “highly unlikely”.

Allegations of sexual abuse, harassment, discrimination and bullying in the Defence Forces made by the group first came to light in an RTÉ documentary in 2021.

In relation to the terms of reference for an inquiry, Mr Martin said he did not detect a “great difference between the issues” and that it was about how they were interpreted. He said the Government had received legal advice and the terms of reference included the Department of Defence, protected disclosures and civilian employees.

‘Catalyst for change’

The Fianna Fáil leader said he wanted the inquiry to be set up before the Dáil rises for summer recess next Thursday, adding that a lot of preparatory work would have to happen.

Mr Martin said it would be “a number of years” before the work of an inquiry would be concluded, but that it was “absolutely essential” and would be “a catalyst for a change in culture” in terms of the future of the Defence Forces.

The Women of Honour group on Wednesday accused Mr Martin of ignoring victims by moving to “ram through flawed terms of reference” for an inquiry. It is seeking a full tribunal of inquiry into abuses in the Defence Forces.

Ahead of their meeting with the Tánaiste, the group said it had been notified this week by Mr Martin that he does not plan to make any significant changes to the terms of reference for the inquiry, as they had requested.

‘Too much influence’

“It is very disappointing that, despite in-depth discussions and the efforts of so many, comprehensive terms of reference will not be put forward to Government,” the group said. “We remain of a view that the Department of Defence is having too much influence in this matter and it is why the Tánaiste, who is Minister for Defence, is seeing fit to ignore victims.

“We believe it is a conflict of interest to have the Department of Defence involved in influencing Government to decide whether firstly it should be a tribunal of inquiry in public and secondly the remit of that inquiry. The Department of Defence seeks to make the terms of reference as narrow as possible to avoid its own culpability and that of prior ministers for defence and Defence Forces personnel over the years.”

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said concerns from the Women of Honour group had to be taken on board and that the Defence Forces was “in crisis following years of neglect”.

“We have a recruitment and retention crisis in particular,” she said. “To address that, we need to ensure that we’re addressing the toxic culture that the allegations from the Women of Honour have uncovered.”