Defence forces watchdog criticises funding

THE Ombudsman for the Defence Forces has complained that the resources provided to her office are totally inadequate to deal with a growing number of complaints.

ODF, Paulyn Marrinan Quinn, also expressed concern about the delays taken between the time of an original complaint being made within the Defence Forces until her ruling on a case is upheld or rejected by the minister for defence.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights heard yesterday that a sample survey by the ODF revealed it took on average 409 days for such a process to be completed.