Women of Honour terms of reference
Deputy Clarke questioned whether the Women of Honour were properly included in the Defence Department process and criticised the terms of reference. The issue was taken up in the Minister's closing response to the remaining questions.
I thank the Minister. We are out of time. There are four Deputies remaining. We will take 30-second questions from each Deputy.
Comment on this
Yesterday, the Taoiseach stated that the Minister for Defence was anxious to do the right thing for and by the Women of Honour group. How can the Government reconcile that statement with the Women of Honour saying that their request for legal representatives to be present was ignored until after the terms of reference were set? They describe the terms of reference as costly, self-serving and pointless and state that they had no involvement in their creation. I am deeply concerned. These women engaged with the Minister and the Department of Defence despite everything that had been their experience to that point. The deep fracture that is starting to emerge needs urgent action before the State starts revictimising victims.