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The Defense Ministry is considering setting up an independent review of how it handles complaints of sexual abuse in the Defense Forces.
The move follows allegations of widespread sexual abuse against adults and children in military settings. The allegations were gathered by retired Army Sgt. Anthony OBrien who himself said he was mistreated by a senior officer while on duty.
Mr OBrien has grown increasingly frustrated in recent months with the way the government has responded to the allegations. To date, officials have refused to open a general investigation into potential abuses in the defense force and have insisted that individual complaints fall under the Garda.
On Thursday, OBrien met with Defense Ministry Secretary General Jacqui McCrum to discuss his concerns.
He told the Irish Times he was told at the meeting that the department intended to appoint an independent reviewer to assess how it should deal with allegations of sexual abuse in the military.
In follow-up correspondence, Mr. OBrien asked the Secretary General to send him the terms of reference for the review. Ms McCrum agreed to send them out at a later date and said she would provide an update in September.
A spokesperson for the department declined to comment on Friday. It is understood internally that no final decision has been made on the review.
Earlier this year, the Guard and Defense Forces called on victims of sexual abuse in the military to come forward after examining historical abuse allegations provided by Mr. OBrien.
The allegations involved sexual abuse of male and female soldiers, often by senior officials, and abuse of children in the residential area of Curragh Camp in Kildare for decades.
The allegations were passed on to Defense Minister Simon Coveney, who in turn passed them on to the Guard. He also ordered that they be treated as protected disclosures under whistleblower legislation.
Call for public inquiry
Mr. OBrien had accused the Defense Forces of failing to follow up on allegations of sexual abuse committed by members of the Defense Forces in the past and called for a public inquiry and reparation for the victims.
In March, the Defense Forces said they took the safety and well-being of their members very seriously and urged anyone with information about suspected crime, recent or historical, to report to Garda. glaigh na hiringann will fully comply with any potential investigation.
He also detailed various channels within the Defense Forces through which people can lodge a complaint, including through the military police and designated contact persons.
La Garda told the military it did not treat the allegations as evidence of systemic and widespread abuse warranting a single large-scale investigation. Instead, the new allegations would be treated as individual complaints.
La Garda believes that complaints of sexual abuse, while largely credible, reflect the level of sexual abuse within Irish society and its institutions in the 20th century, rather than any innate issues with the defense forces.
Garda from the National Protective Services Office has met with Mr. OBrien since he first submitted the reports of alleged abuse in May 2020.
Officers assessed the complaints received by Mr. OBrien and determined that some had already been investigated and, in some cases, prosecuted. In others, the authors have since died.
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