Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The matter of independence has often arisen in situations such as this. I am mindful of a Supreme Court ruling that it is not good enough just to say you are independent. Rather, you must be seen to be independent, and I think all members of the board would agree with that.

Ms Sinnamon is chair of the implementation group. I have had conversations with some very senior people throughout Europe and there is great concern regarding the emphasis of the external oversight body and its work on bullying, sexual harassment, rape and any other horrendous crimes that have taken place. It is my hope the perpetrators will be found and duly brought before the courts, but there is a concern that the weight of this problem is overshadowing the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces. The concern is that there is now an obsession with sexual harassment, bullying and so on and the military aspect is being left aside. Certainly, from my perspective, I do not see a great deal of evidence for the implementation of the recommendations of the commission while, at the same time, numbers are falling rapidly. By the way, this is not just in the Defence Forces but is now also in the Garda, where it is not the issue of bullying and harassment but where other pension issues and so on are involved. A number of tasks are ongoing at the same time. The implementation body is looking at how the Defence Forces will look in the future, whereas the external oversight body is looking at issues from the IRG. Is there a fear one is overshadowing the other?