A Senator and ex-Defence Force member says the organisation has been “plagued” with allegations of sexual assaults.
Fianna Fail’s Lisa Chambers, who spent 13 years in the organisation, said there is a “cultural issue” that needs to be rooted out.
It comes as another allegation of a sexual assault at McKee Army Barracks in Dublin has rocked the force.
The Military police are investigating an alleged sexual assault of an on-duty female soldier by an off-duty male officer.
It allegedly occurred following a booze-filled outdoor party during the height of the pandemic in June 2020.
The Women of Honour group has called for a Commission of Inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse and bullying in the Defence Forces.
Senator Chambers told the Irish Mirror: “In terms of the allegations of sexual assault, unfortunately the Defence Forces have been plagued with this in recent times and some of these date back a number of years and others are more recent.
“There clearly is a cultural issue within the organisation that needs to be rooted out and gotten rid of in order to make the Defence Forces, to repair the damage that has been done.
“My own experience having spent 13 years in the Reserve Defence Forces, I can tell you that the organisation does take these allegations seriously.
“They know how damaging it is, they know they must deal with it and that they have a legal and moral obligation to investigate these complaints, to listen to the victim and to investigate these complaints properly.
“That’s not to say they’ve handled things well to date, in many cases they haven’t.
“I think there are massive issues with how they deal with these types of complaints and how they attempt to resolve them”
Ms Chambers said she believes the “systematic dismantling” of the Defence Forces over the years has contributed to issues “not being dealt with properly or speedily enough.”
She added: “Pay is a massive issue but also conditions, how members of the organisation are treated have led to basically a skeletal Defence Forces.”
She said there is an “imbalance” in terms of the number of women in the organisation and said she is aware the Defence Forces have tried hard over the years to increase female participation.
In October last year RTE reported there were just 603 women in Defence Forces.
However, she said such allegations of sexual assault will make that task “even more difficult as many young women will look to the Defence Forces and maybe not see a career for themselves in the organisation as it stands today.”
Ms Chamber said more needs to be done in addition to annual educational programmes on the issue of sexual assault, harassment and bullying.
She said the voices of Defence Forces representative bodies need to be involved in discussions on tackling the matters and setting out a strategic plan for the organisation.
She said Minister Simon Coveney will have to work with the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and with members on “how they’re going to address recruitment and retention, how they’re going to address a culture within the force that is clearly not making the organisation fit for purpose for female members”.
A spokeswoman said Mr Coveney has established an Independent Review Group into allegations.
She said: “Oglaigh na hEireann will give its unequivocal support and cooperation to this review.”
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