The Chief of Staff of Óglaigh na hÉireann, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy has welcomed today’s announcement by an Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Mr Micheál Martin TD, that he has signed the Statutory Instrument that brings into effect the Tribunal of Inquiry established to examine the effectiveness of the complaints processes in the Defence Forces concerning workplace issues relating to discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and the use of hazardous chemicals.
The Chief of Staff stated, “I welcome today’s announcement by an Tánaiste regarding the signing of the statutory instrument to establish the Tribunal of Inquiry to examine the effectiveness of the complaints processes in the Defence Forces concerning workplace issues. The Defence Forces is fully committed to cooperating with the Tribunal and the Honourable Ms Justice Ann Power in the course of her work and I fully expect that the Inquiry will determine the extent of the issues brought to light in the IRG-DF report.”
The Chief of Staff further stated “Since being appointed I have made it abundantly clear, there is no place for any form of abusive behaviour in the Defence Forces. We are working tirelessly to redesign our grievance procedures and HR policies, rolling out mandatory Sexual Ethics and Respectful Relationships workshops and holding people to account for misconduct and misbehaviour. Change is underway and updated policies will be underpinned by the principles of mutual respect, dignity and equality.”
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
The Defence Forces has not stood still and is responding to the serious internal cultural issues raised by the IRG report. The Defence Forces are determined to change the negative aspects of our culture. Amongst the initiatives undertaken are:
- A civilian Head of Strategic Human Resources and Head of Transformation have been appointed to the Defence Forces Board.
- An external review of the Defence Forces internal complaints procedure has been undertaken with the next step to fundamentally redesign the process imminent.
- The Defence Forces now passes all complaints of alleged sexual offences in the State directly to An Garda Síochána for investigation.
- The Defence Forces has developed and rolled out Sexual Ethics and Responsible Relationship workshops in cooperation with UCC and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which is mandatory for all our people.
- The Defence Forces has rolled out mandatory Gender Diversity and Unconscious Bias training to all our people.
