The Women of Honour group has labelled Government plans for an administrative review of its claims of bullying, assault, rape and discrimination in the Defence Forces as ‘nothing more than a paper exercise”.
The group is demanding a full Statutory Investigation and is warning that it will not support any other form of inquiry.
The group is due to meet with the Defence Minister Simon Coveney again this afternoon to discuss its concerns.
On Breakfast Briefing this morning, Women of Honour member and Retired Army Captain Diane Byrne said the group can’t support the proposed administrative review.
“We’ve had reviews before,” she said. “This is, in our opinion, a paper exercise.
“They have never worked. They have been happening for decades. It really needs to be a comprehensive, independent, statutory investigative process so that it can really get to the heart of the issues.”
Captain Byrne the review process is unable to compel witnesses or documents and is “hugely shrouded in anonymity”.
She said the concerns can only be addressed through a full Statutory Investigation
“I don’t see that anything else is going to get to the root cause or is going to make any sense at this point,” she said. “It really needs to uncover the extent and the reach of the entire truth.”
She said the group will not support the current Government plans.
“I don’t feel we could support something that is going to cause more pain for people whilst not really solving any problems,” she said.
“We always welcome engagement but if an administrative review – as it stands at the moment – is what is happening going forward, we can’t support that.”
Captain Byrne said a full investigation would encourage more women to join the Defence Forces in the future.
“Many women have left well before the time they wanted to leave,” she said. “They didn’t want to leave but they weren’t protected in the environment.
“To get more people in, they need to know they are safe and at the moment they’re not safe. I wouldn’t be sending in my son or daughter. I wouldn’t be encouraging them into that role at all.”
She said Gardaí should investigate any criminal incidents uncovered through the process.
