The Women of Honour group says it hopes the Government's publication of a year-long independent review into gender-based violence, harassment and bullying in the Defence Forces will be an historic moment for those affected.
Speaking after an hour-long meeting with Tánaiste Micheál Martin at Government buildings, the group confirmed Mr Martin did not say if the review would recommend a repeatedly sought full statutory inquiry into what happened.
However, Women of Honour representative and retired Defence Forces captain Yvonne O'Rourke told RTÉ News the Tánaiste said the expected publication of the report after cabinet tomorrow would lead to a "watershed" moment for those involved.
"He reiterated that it will be a watershed moment. That word in itself is powerful, so we are expecting history to be changed," Ms O'Rourke said.
The comment came as Ms O'Rourke and Women of Honour colleagues, including retired army captain Diane Bryne, said they were more optimistic about the publication of the report after meeting Mr Martin today.
Over the weekend, the group said they feared the meeting would be "a PR stunt" and that nothing short of a full statutory inquiry into the situation was acceptable.
A Government spokesperson said the Defence Forces review will be published tomorrow after it is signed off on by Cabinet, but declined to comment on any of the reports recommendations, which it is understood Government will implement in full.
In the statement over the weekend, the Women of Honour said they "accepted the Tánaiste's invitation, out of courtesy, despite having concerns about his approach".
"Bringing people to meetings, to be talked to, about a report that we are not able to read smacks of little more than a public relations stunt by the Government," it said.
"It is disappointing and continues the mishandling of the issue."
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Ms Byrne said that while today's meeting was "a courtesy" and the group did not believe that the Independent Review Group was fit for purpose, "that in itself does not mean that we have ever left the table".
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Byrne said: "We're very dedicated to improving the Defence Forces and making sure there's no more victims as we were.
"So, we are ready to engage and we're eagerly waiting to see what the report says."
Women of Honour did not take part in the review, she explained, but did correspond in the early stages with the IRG looking for clarification and details.
"So, we did stay out of the process," Ms Byrne said. "But we are very aware of the information that did go through and an awful lot of victims were engaged with the process and provided compelling information that backs up exactly what we have been asking for, which is the need for a full independent statutory process."
Ms Byrne was critical of the process as she said it has been 15 months since the review was set up and nobody has seen the report, she said.
"There have been periodic updates, but none of the other stakeholders are aware of what's even in it," she said.
"Speaking to people on the ground, male and female, nothing has improved. Nothing is in place."
She said that the women will "absolutely" support a statutory inquiry if that is what is recommended.
"The key issues that we have and one of the reasons the IRG was so problematic for us is that because it didn't have the statutory powers, there was no compellability," Ms Byrne added.
"So, the onus was on individuals to attend and provide their side of a story and the evidence that they had without any understanding of the depth of, of how things were dealt with, what went on.
"So, you need to be able to bring people in and answer the accusations or answer the information that is being put to them so that they can truly investigate.
"A statutory process is the only thing that's going to be able to lift the lid on the true extent and the depth of the problems, and you cannot fix what you don't understand.
"You can't fix something if you don't have the full depth of what's broken," Ms Byrne added.
'Needs to be much, much broader'
"With the terms of reference that were put forward in the IRG they were flawed in themselves because they looked specifically at the Defence Forces, it was generally a paper exercise.
"This needs to be much, much broader. The issues extend into the Department of Defence, they extend into the Ombudsman and we're not suggesting for a second that you believe everything we say.
"We're saying put a statutory process in place to truly investigate and understand to the extent of the issues and then we can start putting solutions in place."
She said that from feedback that the Women of Honour are getting, there has been no change since these issues first came to light.
"Aside from the numbers that are still leaving and the recruitment issues that are there, we understand there's various measures being put in place, but from the individuals on the ground, they're not making any difference," Ms Byrne said.
"It's more of the same. We've seen it for years. Women's groups, gender diversity officers, these are all things that we have done for 20 years. There's ample evidence to suggest that these things just don't work.
"And the feedback on the ground is that people are not satisfied with what's happening."
