Cathal Crotty was handed a fully suspended sentence after pleading guilty to assaulting Natasha O’Brien in 2022. He was later discharged from the Defence Forces.
Commandant Martin Ryan, president of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, told its annual conference today that the Defence Forces faced damning media scrutiny and political commentary over the case this summer.
He said this was primarily due to inadequate regulations that do not allow for members of the Defence Forces to be suspended or put on gardening leave “as is the norm in many other public and private sector workplaces”.
“RACO and the defence forces don’t condone gender-based violence in any shape or form and want to root out any such perpetrators out of the organisation,” he said.
However, he said they can only do so using the regulations and mechanisms provided to them by employers.
He said the organisation keenly awaits a report from Senior Counsel Peter Ward that should highlight the inadequacies of the regulations and a pathway to update them.
“Of any of the negative rhetoric in the past three years I think this past summer was what hurt members most,” he said.
“To watch us being used and vilified in particular by those holding appointments highest in government was devastating to morale and has had such a negative impact on the psychological contract with some members no doubt.
“I’m glad to see that recruitment was not impacted adversely at this time but I’m not so sure on the retention piece, time will tell. “
Speaking to the Irish Independent, he said Defence Force regulations have to be followed.
“We saw how something which was a negative anyway spiralled out of control as far as we’re concerned and we didn’t have the regulations in place to actually address many of the issues that were being discussed,” he said.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin told the conference he is committed to removing a blanket exemption for members of the Defence Forces from legislation that limits the working week.
He said the next step to bring forward the legislative framework for this is the responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
“I have engaged with the minister and with the department and I’m assured that good progress has been made on the relevant statutory instrument, that the departments are working well together, and that the aim is to get it done by the end of this year,” he said.
“I will certainly continue to push for that.” He said work has also advanced on an electronic “time and attendance solution” to record the daily working hours of every member of the defence forces.
RACO called on the Tánaiste to immediately implement the working time directive and said it will be a “game-changer” for morale and retention in the defence forces.
General secretary, Lieutenant Colonel Conor King, said immediate implementation of the Working Time Directive will “go some way to halting the haemorrhaging of Defence Force members”. He said one in four officers only intend to stay up to five years.
The organisation welcomed Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sean Clancy’s backing for the introduction of an occupational supplementary pension for those forced to retire before they reach pension age.
