I pay tribute to the courageous Women of Honour who spoke truth to power in highlighting abuse experienced in the Defence Forces. Members will recall the shocking findings of the independent review carried out into the culture in the Defence Forces. The report detailed just how abusive certain experiences of many members were. When that kind of systematic and misogynistic abuse is exposed, it becomes incumbent on the Government to act. The Women of Honour have warned that a toxic culture will fester unless the proposed terms of reference for an inquiry are made effective. My colleague, Senator Wall, has pointed out that without rooting out that culture, we will see an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis in the Defence Forces. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have met with the Women of Honour. Will the Taoiseach accept their calls for an effective tribunal of inquiry, with terms of reference that are sufficiently focused to ensure that not just the abuse itself but victimisation as a result of that abuse, and the accompanying misogynistic culture, are investigated by the tribunal?

The Tánaiste and I had a very good meeting yesterday with the Women of Honour. It was very useful to hear from them their views on this matter.

There are other groups we need to talk to as well, but it was particularly useful to hear their views. I can certainly understand the points they made. Having gone through private or closed-door processes that did not work, they felt the need and took the decision to go public. In my view this was a very brave decision. For that reason, they want an inquiry to be held in public. Deputy Bacik is a barrister and she knows the pluses and minuses and the pros and cons of that approach. The same applies to the terms of reference. The wider the terms of reference, the broader they are and the longer the inquiry will go on. We must make sure we get it right, that we get to the truth, and that the serving members of the Defence Forces in particular have confidence that this inquiry is real. There will be further meetings this week and we will consult the Opposition once we have a plan.