O'Dea: Bullying in Defence Forces exaggerated

Allegations of widespread bullying in the Defence Forces are over-exaggerated, TDs were told today.

During questions in the Dáil, Defence Minister Willie O’Dea said that since new complaints procedures were introduced only eight cases had come forward - five had been rejected, two were still under investigation and one upheld.

A confidential telephone line since 2003 had also received a small number of calls about harassment.

“I am aware of the allegations,” the minister told independent TD Finian McGrath.

“Certainly we are all aware of the allegations in the newspapers but we do not believe everything we read in the newspapers.”

Last December military police quizzed 40 Army recruits at McKee Barracks in Dublin after a member of their platoon alleged he was forced to eat food off a floor, that he was locked inside a locker and had personal possessions taken.

In April 2003 the Defence Forces were also given new guidelines after an external advisory group claimed bullying and harassment were significant problems.

The survey said:

:: Over 34% of females said they had been harassed, as did 26.6% of males.

:: More than a quarter (26.5%) of all respondents said they had been bullied - mostly during training.

:: Among women surveyed, 40% said they had experienced discrimination.

:: Only 4.8% of victims used the complaints procedure.

:: Over 30% of those polled said they had been sexually harassed.

:: Among women, 22% had received unwanted physical contact, with just 1.7% of men saying they had also experienced it.

Former Defence Minister Michael Smith set up the 24-hour confidential helpline to tackle the problem, and a network of “contact persons” was also established within units as an informal method of solving bullying and harassment issues.

Every soldier received booklets on their rights and how to process a formal complaint.

Mr McGrath said it was important there should be no attempt to cover up intimidation in the Defence Forces, particularly of junior members and women.

“We need an independent inquiry to deal with bullying and intimidation,” the Dublin North Central TD said.

Fine Gael’s Billy Timmins said that in his view there was no more bullying in the Defence Forces than there was in the workplace.

Mr O’Dea told Labour’s Joe Sherlock that stories about harassment and bullying in the Defence Forces were sexy for many reporters.

However the minister said they tended to over-exaggerate the scale of the problem in the same way that reports on crime in Limerick were blown out of proportion.

“The problem is not as great as we are led to believe in some sections of the media,” he said.