The Army Chief of Staff, Lieut Gen Colm Mangan, has said there will be "no question of any whitewash or cover-up" where allegations of sexual harassment of women soldiers are concerned.
"My aim is to uncover the nature and extent of the problem and then to identify intervention measures to deal with it," he said.
In the current issue of Connect, the Army's monthly newsletter, he said "harassment or bullying of any kind within the Defence Forces is entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated".
He reminded commanders that "it is their responsibility to ensure that the military environment is free from any form of sexual harassment or bullying". Failure to do so was "a dereliction of duty".
Lieut Gen Mangan's comments follow last week's publication of details from a four-year study by former Army captain, Dr Tom Cloonan, which found 28 of 60 women in the Army interviewed had made allegations of sexual harassment, 26 involving senior officers.
A steering group set up to coordinate an investigation into the allegations decided yesterday that similar claims by male soldiers would also be investigated.
The military element of the group, including three senior male officers and the Army's most senior female officer, met for the first time yesterday.
It decided an independent civilian expert in the area should be appointed to the group by the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith.
This expert would advise on best practice in handling the allegations and on the appointment of an outside agency, which would investigate the incidence of sexual harassment generally in the Defence Forces.
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