Women of Honour to challenge document restriction at Defence Forces Tribunal

The Women of Honour group of Defence Forces veterans has been granted leave to challenge a “particularly troubling imbalance” in documentation access between State bodies and the victims’ legal team in the tribunal.

The group is concerned that access to full witness statements, which may relate to its members, is being restricted from its legal representation, and could mean important information being overlooked.

The Defence Forces Tribunal was set up after members of the group, and other victims, alleged sexism and bullying in the organisation was widespread and that these issues, as well as cases of sexual assault and rape, were inadequately investigated in a 2021 RTÉ Radio documentary.

During the sitting of the tribunal on Friday, Judge Ann Power said the group would be allowed to make an application at its next sitting on Tuesday.

Details of the challenge to be taken by the victims’ group were circulated to the other legal teams involved in the tribunal before 5pm on Friday, with the full application to be heard at 2pm on Tuesday by the single-judge tribunal.

Spokeswoman Diane Byrne said the group’s legal team is looking for access to the complainant witness statements and supporting documentation so they can make the decision of what is relevant to the victims’ group, not the tribunal.

Byrne asked how there can be a “comprehensive, thorough and effective investigation into systemic and institutional failures” if access to information is being restricted from their legal team.

“The concern is that important information will undoubtedly be overlooked ... The last thing any of us wants is to reach the end of this process and discover that important evidence was available, but the people who might have understood its significance were never given an opportunity to consider it.”

She said the group has “serious concerns” about the “particularly troubling imbalance” and would consider High Court action if a resolution cannot be reached.

The group is also involved in a High Court challenge against Minister for Defence Helen McEntee’s decision not to financially assist them at the judge-led tribunal examining their complaints. The next hearing is at the end of November.

The tribunal is in its second module, which will resume on Tuesday, examining the efficacy of the internal complaints processes in the Defence Forces and the culture surrounding the making of complaints.