The Chair of the External Oversight Body of the Defence Forces has described the number of complaints of inappropriate behaviour within the Defence Forces or by its members as "highly unacceptable".
Patricia King said the number of alleged cases was increasing instead of decreasing.
The first public sitting of the External Oversight Body of the Defence Forces heard that in the last three months of last year there were 53 live complaints of inappropriate behaviour including sexual and physical assaults.
It also heard that 13 of those were new complaints made in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Appearing before the External Oversight Body, the Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces said that this was "of course of concern".
However Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy said one of the issues that had been raised in the past was a lack of trust in complaint procedures and processes, but that he had anticipated that as trust in those increases, the number of complaints will also increase.
Therefore, he said that the increase was "a positive".
He acknowledged that it may feel "counterintuitive" to say this, but emphasised that it was important that personnel felt they could bring complaints either to the military or An Garda Síochána.
He also acknowledged that "this big number of cases may get worse before they get better," but repeated that this was "down to the trust in the system."
Ms King also asked the Defence Forces Chief of Staff about recent survey results that showed that 24% of surveyed staff had observed or been subject to inappropriate behaviour in the previous 12 months and 78% of those surveyed who had witnessed or experienced such behaviour would not report it.
Ms King said that these levels of inappropriate behaviour would be unacceptable in any workplace and that "one instance is one to many".
Lt Gen Mulcahy said there was a zero tolerance policy to inappropriate behaviour in the Defence Forces but that culture change was going to take time and that there was no quick fix.
However he said that since July 2024, 40 members of the Defence Forces had been discharged due to inappropriate behaviour or criminal activity and he said this was "zero tolerance in action".
"I absolutely take every incident seriously. There should be no incidents, but there are," Lt Gen Mulcahy said.
He said that the Defence Forces is dealing with these cases "effectively and judiciously" and with "fair procedures" which could sometimes take time.
The External Oversight Body also heard about efforts to increase the number of civilian staff and the representation of women in the Defence Forces.
In 2022 the Commission of the Defence Forces set a target of 35% female participation in the Defence Forces by 2025.
Today the External Oversight Body heard that it currently stands at just under 8%.
"At 8%, by my reckoning, it would take 140 years to get to that 35% target", Julie Sinnamon said to the Chief of Staff.
"It is acknowledged that that is a very difficult target" Lt Gen Mulcahy said, adding that he would "love" to meet that target and that that was the "goal".
However he also noted that he did not think "any military in the world has 35% females."
"That's not an excuse. That does not stop us. That's still my target", Lt Gen Mulcahy said.
However, he said he could not positively discriminate in favour of women when hiring personnel.
"I can't discriminate on the basis of gender. So I can't create a female only appointment. I'm bound by employment law," Lt Gen Mulcahy said.
Josephine Feehily suggested the Defence Forces look at the Strategic Academic Leadership Initiative (SALI) in Higher Education which is designed to accelerate gender balance at the Professor or Senior Lecturer level, which she said "certainly challenged the notion that it's not possible to have positive action in favour of female leaders".
However Colonel Jane Lawlor, Director of Defence Force Inclusion, told the External Oversight Body that while there had been some discussion about such initiatives there was a concern about they could create "disharmony within the organisation".
"We do the same training as the men, we have the very same standards, and we have equality across the board," Colonel Lawlor said, and she felt it could be problematic to then create appointments to advance women's careers.
The establishment of the External Oversight Body was recommended by the Independent Review Group's report on dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces.
In December 2024, the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence said the Body would "oversee the implementation and operationalisation of necessary change by the Defence Forces on foot of the matters identified in the IRG Report".
It followed allegations of emotional abuse, physical torture, bullying and sexual misconduct in the Defence Forces by the Women of Honour group.
The report, which was published in March 2023 found "deep" and "long-standing issues around unacceptable behaviours" in the Defence Forces and "a complaints handling system that was not fit for purpose".
It also recommended the establishment of a separate statutory inquiry to identify systemic failures, if they existed, in the Defence Forces' complaints procedures.
The Statutory Inquiry sat for the first time on 24 June last year when Chair Ms Justice Ann Power appealed for written submissions, and oral hearings have yet to be held.
Women of Honour say more information is required
Despite the assurances from the Chief of Staff at today's hearing, the Women of Honour Group has said that "current victims" are not happy with the systems that have been put in place.
"We still have people coming to us nearly daily with live issues," spokeswoman Diane Byrne told RTÉ News.
Ms Byrne welcomed that today's meeting was held in public but said she has "a lot of reservations" around some of the information provided by the Defence Forces to the body today.
"It's not to say that we're not being given accurate information, but I think there's an awful lot more underneath that information," Ms Byrne said.
"Victims at the moment, current victims are not happy," Ms Byrne said. "The systems that are in place are not working for them.
"What is being claimed is happening is not really what's happening in our experience, and we're not quite sure where the disconnect is coming from... and we're certainly not being asked about it."
Women of Honour have not been invited to participate in or to provide information to the External Oversight Committee.
RACO concerned about conflicts of interest
Representatives from the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) were at today's hearing.
"We hugely value oversight in the Defence Forces and fully support the work of the body in holding leadership to account regarding the management of Human Resources; however, we continue to have significant reservations regarding the composition of the oversight body," RACO General Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Conor King said.
RACO has consistently expressed reservations at the presence of the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, Jacqui McCrum, on the External Oversight Body.
While RACO, and the other representative body PDFORRA, have previously appeared before the body, they are not represented on it.
RACO President Lieutenant Colonel Martin Ryan said that "a failure to acknowledge the role that our employers, the Department of Defence, play in matters such as appropriate legislation for disciplinary matters, employment terms and conditions, career advancement and promotion arrangements; clearly shows this conflict of interest in action."
"The Department have effectively absolved themselves of any responsibility and the External Oversight Body appears compliant through not even referencing the Department of Defence in delays or lack of progress".
"It is simply not realistic or credible to consistently blame the Defence Forces for everything and not even reference the employers. This would not happen if the Defence Forces representative associations had not been excluded from (membership of) the Body".
The External Oversight Body of the Defence Forces will sit again this day next month, however that hearing will not be in public.
