Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 July 2024
141. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence how personnel with convictions for violence, domestic and or otherwise, are allowed to remain in service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28319/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish again to express my unequivocal condemnation of any form of gender-based violence. Such behaviour has no place in a modern society or in the Defence Forces.
It is also important that I note at the outset the pride we share in the vast majority of the men and women of the Defence Forces who serve the nation so admirably at home and on peacekeeping missions abroad. The actions of a minority completely go against the values of the Defence Forces and have no place in a modern workplace, particularly an organisation which is there to protect.
The Defence Act 1954 provides for the dismissal or discharge of members of the Permanent Defence Forces for prescribed reasons. Section 50 of the Defence Act provides for the dismissal of Officers by the President for prescribed reasons which are set down in Defence Force A15.
Enlisted personnel of the Permanent Defence Forces may be discharged for any one of the twenty-six reasons identified in Defence Forces Regulations, DFR A10 including under Para 58 (m), ‘ a result of conviction by the Civil Power’.
Of note however, discharges are not carried out until it has been ascertained that no appeal against the conviction is pending, or, where an appeal has been made, until the appeal has been heard and determined.
Let me be quite clear about this. The Defence Forces is not a place where someone who has been convicted of serious offences, including sexual offences or domestic or gender-based violence, can continue to serve.
As I have said, I have issued an instruction for the placement with immediate effect, of serving personnel in the Defence Forces who have been convicted of sexual assault or rape and awaiting discharge, or who have been charged and awaiting trial, on local leave, on a without prejudice basis. The ability to take this measure is already captured in Defence Force Regulations and I have been clear that it must be applied uniformly in all such cases.
