Simon Coveney accused of breaking trust with Women of Honour

However, she said he has now damaged that trust by announcing as a fait accompli an independent review on sexual harassment and bullying in the Defence Forces, rather than the full statutory inquiry sought by the group.

The group walked out of a meeting with the minister last week. The women will meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin tomorrow at 9.30am to press their case.

The Women of Honour group has been pushing for a statutory inquiry after retired members went public last year to highlight their stories of discrimination, harassment, sexual abuse and discrimination.

“At the very first meeting [last year], the minister looked directly at me, and said, ‘I know we have to build trust.’ We feel that after that meeting, the trust has deteriorated,” Ms O’Rourke said. She said the group felt “completely disrespected”.

“We totally believe now that they didn’t hear us and they were disingenuous by acting this way. When we walked into the room, to find out if the ‘vehicle’ we had asked for was being provided, we were presented with this review, which had already been signed off by Government and a panel of people selected for it.

“We were shocked and asked him for a copy, so his secretary then provided us with this document and it was stamped ‘final version of terms of reference’. The stamp of ‘final’ on it spoke volumes to us.”

Ms O’Rourke fought a seven-year battle, claiming she was discriminated against for promotion on gender grounds. Her maternity leave was treated as equivalent to sick leave, for which she received a poor performance rating.

The Ombudsman for the Defence Forces rejected her gender discrimination claim in 2018. However, in 2020 the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) awarded her €117,814 arising from “an unacceptable systematic failure” in the Defence Forces. 

Ms O’Rourke said in relation to the Ombudsman’s rejection of her case, Mr Coveney wrote to her in November 2020 saying he “accepted” that decision. A month later, the minister stated he accepted the findings of the WRC, which found she had been discriminated against.

“I believe that the redress of wrongs system in the Defence Forces is not fit for purpose,” she said. “Personally, for me, it has failed. I know of others that it is currently failing.”

Mr Coveney said last week that the Defence Forces review will be undertaken by external and unbiased experts and the membership of the review team will be “totally independent in undertaking its function”.

Retired judge Bronagh O’Hanlon has been appointed chair of the group, along with two other members, Jane Williams of SIA Partners and Mark Connaughton SC.

The group will complete a final report in nine months.

Mr Coveney said it is “absolutely critical” he proceeds with the review “to ensure that the workplace is safe for all serving members”.

“In this endeavour, I believe I have the wholehearted support of serving personnel,” he said.

The Women of Honour group has said it will not participate in the review process.

Ms O’Rourke, who now works as a lay chaplain, said of the Women of Honour group: “We are normal, average, run-of-the-mill people who are mothers, housewives, daughters, siblings and members of the Defence Forces.

“We simply want to do the right thing because of our own experiences in the Irish Defence Forces, and also because of all the voices we are hearing now on a regular basis of others who need assistance and support in the Defence Forces at this time.

“In essence, we are asking that everyone in the Defence Forces is provided with their basic rights, and not revictimised after they make a complaint.”