Micheál Martin denies equating sex assault allegations in Defence Forces with trips and falls
Tánaiste Micheál Martin and an Irish delegation meeting with China's vice-president Han Zheng and Chinese officials on his visit to Beijing.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said he is “disappointed” at the assertion by the Women of Honour (WoH) group that he is seeking to equate allegations of sexual assault within the Defence Forces to slips and trips in the workplace.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Mr Martin said he was “surprised” by the reaction from the group and said the use of the phrase “trips, slips and falls” in a letter to them was legal advice.
The WoH has called on Mr Martin to withdraw his comment which was made in correspondence to the group’s legal team. The group, made up of former soldiers who have exposed allegations of abuse within the Defence Forces, said it wanted the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act to be explicitly included in the Terms of Reference of the Tribunal of Inquiry.
However, Mr Martin has said in written correspondence that the inclusion of the act would be broad and could include “trips, slips and falls” that may have occurred in the workplace.
The Women of Honour group accused Mr Martin of seeking to equate the unsafe nature of the Defence Forces’ workplace of “rapes, sexual assaults and other outrages with low level slips, trips and falls". When asked about the groups’ statement, Mr Martin said the assertion this was an equation is “false".
“It is a distortion and I’m disappointed and surprised that that construct has been put on what was a letter back to Women of Honour following a lot of discussion with women, other groups and their legal representatives," he said.
“And that phrase comes from legal advice. The terms of reference are comprehensive — they follow a lot of consultation. In fact, the outcome of a lot of the consultation is reflected in the new terms of reference and the amended terms of reference.
“The objective is that we don't broaden out to such an extent that this could go on for a decade. And I think that was made clear in discussion,” Mr Martin said.
The Tánaiste claimed the phrase was not just outlined in written correspondence and was discussed during meetings and said there was “no issue” when it arose during those engagements.
He said: “There was no issue in the meeting when it was explained as to why the Attorney General's advice is such that if you put in every single act, you're essentially saying the tribunal can cover every aspect that's covered by that act.
“I think that was not a correct construct to put on it,” he added.
Mr Martin, who is on day two of an official visit to Beijing, China, said officials would engage on this issue this week.
He said there had been an agreement for a public inquiry and the challenge of that was to make sure “that we can have an effective and efficient inquiry that would bring answers and enable people to come forward that to tell them story in relation to situations within our Defence Forces".
"That's important. We want to do that. We've had good consultations up to now. And if there's any further issues that people want clarification on, we facilitate that.”
The Women of Honour group has also called for the Department of Taoiseach to take over the establishment of the tribunal rather than the Department of Defence.
