Defence Forces tenders for experts to deliver equality training to troops

A landmark report from the Commission on the Defence Forces last year said: “Training should be designed to focus on real-life issues relating to areas of relevance for the Irish Defence Forces, and include relevant scenarios and material,” File picture

The Defence Forces is seeking external consultants to deliver gender, diversity, and unconscious bias training.

Tender documents reveal the training has been commissioned on foot of a recommendation from last year’s landmark report from the Commission on the Defence Forces that unconscious bias training should become mandatory across all ranks of the military.

The training must be grounded “in a military context”, it said, and be delivered to all staff, numbering around 8,000 personnel. “The Defence Forces is striving to better represent the society they are committed to serve, as Ireland’s population becomes increasingly diverse,” it said.

“Workforce diversity, as it pertains to the Defence Forces, lends itself to improved learning and an enhanced ability to innovate and problem solve in the context of our work globally. This equates to a better and more effective Defence Forces team.” 

The training is to take a number of forms. The first is the delivery of 60- to 90-minute “residential bespoke” programmes to take place at locations nationally with a certificate upon completion. This training rises to two-and-a-half hours for senior leadership.

Attendees will have to complete an online training programme while provision should also be made for “train the trainer” sessions where Defence Forces personnel become able to teach unconscious bias seminars.

“Training should be designed to focus on real-life issues relating to areas of relevance for the Irish Defence Forces, and include relevant scenarios and material,” it said.

Workshops on unconscious bias have been a common feature in Government departments to help staff avoid making decisions on the basis of a person’s gender, race, sexual orientation, or other stereotypes.

For example, interview boards within the Department of Foreign Affairs are trained not to discriminate on any of the nine grounds of the Equality Acts and are also given training on unconscious bias.

It comes as, earlier this week, the Women of Honour group, made up of female members of the forces, said it has received no update since the establishment of an independent review group (IRG) into its claims.

Allegations of sexism, bullying, sexual assault, and rape were raised by members of the Women of Honour group of serving and ex-serving women featured in an RTÉ documentary in 2021.

It said in a statement: “In advance of the report, the Women of Honour want to recognise the extraordinary efforts of those who have engaged with the IRG this past year.

“We understand the extent of the commitment and work put into the submissions and it is our hope that our shared goal of a victim-led, independent, agreed statutory process is recommended by the IRG so we can finally move on to what really needs to be done.” 

Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday morning, Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin said he is due to receive the independent review later in the day and that he would bring the report to Government “for its consideration and subsequent publication”.

Mr Martin described the report as “very important” and said that there would be subsequent engagement with relevant stakeholders and members of the Defence Forces.