It is an honour for me to extend my congratulations to the 64th naval cadet class on their commissioning into the Naval Service. Their commissioning should be a moment of unambiguous pride for them, their families and the State they have chosen to serve. They have completed their demanding training, demonstrated discipline and leadership, and earned their place among the officers of Óglaigh na hÉireann. Each has joined the service with a proud and hard-earned reputation for professionalism, sacrifice and excellence in protecting Ireland's maritime interests.

This occasion was overshadowed, avoidably and significantly, by a failure of leadership at the highest levels of the Government. It is simply unacceptable that not one Minister or Minister of State of the 38 available was present to officiate at the commissioning of new officers into the Naval Service. I remind colleagues that this is not a minor diary clash or an administrative oversight; it is a profound signal of disregard for the State's most loyal servants. The commissioning of officers is the cornerstone moment in the life of the Defence Forces. It represents the State formally entrusting its citizens with authority, responsibility and, if necessary, the use of force in its name. To treat such an occasion as unworthy of a ministerial presence is to diminish that trust.

Even more troubling is what replaced that absence. The decision to have the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, a civil servant, however reputable, take the salute from newly commissioned officers before handing them their commission represents a deeply inappropriate blurring of roles. Let us be clear. Civilian oversight of the military is essential in any democracy but oversight is not ceremony and governance is not command. Ceremonial acts, such as the receiving of a salute, carry profound symbolic meaning. The salute is an expression of the officer's respect for the State's authority, exercised through its elected leadership and its properly constituted military chain of command. For a civil servant, however senior, to assume the role is not just irregular; it is wrong. It sends a confused and troubling message about hierarchy, authority, respect and the place of the Defence Forces within our nation's life. This matters. It matters because symbols shape culture and men and women standing commissioned deserve to see clearly and without ambiguity that their service is recognised at the highest levels of the State. It further matters because erosion of standards, whether ceremonial or substantive, rarely stops where it begins.

Let me be absolutely clear. The failures that have occurred during the commissioning I am adverting to are not the responsibility of the newly commissioned officers. They belong entirely to those who should have known better and done better. Essentially, they rest with the Government and the responsible Minister.

I say to the 64th naval cadet class in their achievement that they remain significant, their commitment remains admirable and their future responsibilities remain vital. As commissioned officers of the Irish Naval Service, each will carry forward the honour of a proud Naval Service, regardless of its shortcomings, to which I have adverted. I call on each officer to serve with integrity, lead with courage, demand the standards from others that they have already demanded of themselves and, above all, never to forget the value of the uniform they now wear, even if others have failed to show that they understand its true value.

Perhaps we would have a Minister in at some stage to explain such a despicable snub.