Defence Forces abuse inquiry will last up to three years and examine incidents dating back to 1983

The planned statutory inquiry into abuse and bullying in the Defence Forces will examine incidents dating back four decades and will last up to three years.

According to the draft terms of reference, which have been circulated to victims’ groups, the judge-led inquiry will have jurisdiction to examine abuse claims and alleged incidents within Ireland as well as incidents overseas and on naval ships.

The inquiry will examine the effectiveness of the complaints procedure relating “to discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct,” Minister for Defence Micheál Martin said in a letter to the Women of Honour group, whose accounts of widespread abuse in the military was the catalyst for the inquiry.

A separate inquiry will take place into concerns raised about the apparent high rate of suicide among Defence Forces personnel, he said. This will be carried out by the National Suicide Research Foundation.

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There will be another, non-statutory, inquiry into the process of discharging Defence Forces personnel for medical reasons. Earlier this year the Defence Forces Independent Review Group (IRG) reported concerns among some members that medical boards were used as a form of discipline within the organisation.

The main inquiry will examine incidents dating back to 1983. The draft terms of reference state it will “endeavour to complete its work no later than three years from the date of its establishment”.

It will examine complaints from employees of the Defence Forces and Department of Defence. The chairman or woman will require assurances from the Minister and Chief of Staff that no personnel will be penalised for coming forward with a complaint, it states.

Mr Martin has rejected several proposed amendments from the Women of Honour group, which has been highly critical of the IRG process and the proposed tribunal.

The group had sought to have complaints relating to data protection and workplace health and safety legislation included in the terms of reference. Mr Martin said data protection is already covered by the Data Protection Commission.

The inclusion of health and safety matters “would be very broad and could conceivably include ‘trips, slips and falls’ that may have occurred in the workplace”, he said.

He also rejected proposals to broaden the definitions of abuse and complaints of abuse. The terms of reference must be clearly defined to ensure the tribunal completes its task in a reasonable time frame, Mr Martin wrote last week.

The question of whether witnesses will be afforded legal representation will be a matter for the tribunal chairperson, he said. The terms of reference are due to go before Cabinet in the coming weeks.

The Tánaiste’s letter and the draft terms of reference were released by the Women of Honour on Monday which said it is “outraged” by some of the language used by Mr Martin.

He was equating “slips, trips and falls” with “rapes, sexual assaults and other outrages”, they claimed.

“The Tánaiste needs to withdraw his trivialisation of our claims,” the group said.

The Women of Honour accused Mr Martin of suffering from “Stockholm syndrome at the hands of the Department of Defence/Defence Forces where toxic cultures still pervade and where all whistleblowers are seen as traitors and punished accordingly”.

It said the matter should be handled by the Department of the Taoiseach rather than the Department of Defence “which does not have clean hands in the matter”.

Furthermore, the draft terms are overly narrow and the exclusion of health and safety complaints is “unfathomable”, the group said. It said it is seeking further meetings with the Taoiseach, Minister for Defence and Attorney General on the matter.

The establishment of a statutory inquiry was one of the recommendations of the IRG which published a report in March detailing widespread abuse, bullying and discrimination within the military.

An Garda Síochána is also investigating allegations of abuse within the military in the wake of the IRG report.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has established a national unit to investigate allegations of sexual assault and rape by “predators” within the Defence Forces.