Defence Forces tribunal told of ‘pressure’ to handle complaints informally

The Defence Forces complaints service for issues such as abuse, bullying and sexual assault should be handled externally, the representative body for commissioned officers has told a tribunal.

A Defence Forces tribunal charged with investigating how the organisation responded to complaints of sexual assault, rape, bullying and harassment heard there was pressure to handle complaints “informally”.

Col Derek Priestley, deputy general secretary the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco), said there was “always pressure” on those handling complaints to “keep it informal [and] move it along as quickly as possible”.

He said “even in the area of abuse, there is a certain consideration ... to try and resolve the matter informally, and that slows things down”.

Officers were often viewing procedures for the first time when charged with investigating complaints, which could involve sexual assault or abuse.

Priestley said the regulations outlining the complaints processes were “sterile” and “not very practical” and that investigators would approach the association for help. He said there was no training in how to conduct investigations until a pilot programme began in 2024.

Raco, which represents 1,300 officers across the Defence Forces, also provides advice to alleged victims of abuse and discrimination.

Priestley said the complaints processes can be “confusing” to those unfamiliar with them, which leads to a “lack of trust or willingness to engage”.

He said the biggest problem for those making complaints related to timelines, concerns over the impartiality of the process and a lack of feedback to the complainant.

“You would frequently hear complaints, ‘I don’t know where this complaint is, it has gone on for years’,” he said.

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He said the opacity of the process meant that even the officer charged with investigating a complaint did not hear about the outcome of the complaint and did not get feedback.

The tribunal was established in response to concerns raised by a 2021 RTÉ Radio documentary, Women of Honour, which alleged that sexism and bullying in the organisation was widespread and that these issues, as well as cases of sexual assault and rape, were inadequately investigated.

Priestley noted that there had been “significant developments” and “improvement” in the Defence Forces in advising members of appropriate behaviour and outlining the processes for making complaints in the past “five or six years”.

Niall Beirne, senior counsel for the tribunal, asked Priestley whether Raco could face conflicts of interest by being the representative body of both a complainant and the person being complained about.

“Absolutely,” he said and noted that, by representing all ranks of officers, it could advise both sides of a complaint.

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He said Raco adopted a firewall approach whereby two staff would split engagement with the alleged victims and perpetrators.

Even the permanent Raco staff had not received formal training in dealing with complaints, but had built up experience of the process, he said.

The association was so impressed by the handling of a recent complaint externally that it now considered it a “benchmark” and was seeking to externalise the investigations into all serious complaints.

The tribunal is examining whether the complaints processes in the Defence Forces is fit for purpose and whether victims of abuse who made complaints faced punishments or reprisals, over a 41-year period ending in June 2024.