Defence Forces chief ordered to hand over files related to alleged sexual assault case

The Defence Forces Tribunal said it was seeking the information because it was 'necessary and proportional in the interests of justice' and because the documents concerned allegations of abuse and gender discrimination. File picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The chief of staff of the Defence Forces has been ordered to hand over documents relating to the alleged sexual assault of a female air corps officer.

Defence Forces Tribunal lawyers made the order after receiving information about a series of complaints between 2005 and 2014 that relate to the officer.

She initially raised concerns about her accommodation and toilet facilities in 2005, when she complained about “inappropriate female toilet facilities and accommodation”.

That complaint was made to what has been described as the then “mess president at air corps headquarters” at Baldonnel Air Base in Co Dublin.

According to newly released documents from the Defence Forces Tribunal, she made another complaint “to a superior officer” in 2008 about “inappropriate female accommodation” in Air Corps HQ.

Documents are also  sought about her subsequent complaint to her commanding officer "in or around” 2014 that she was sexually assaulted.

Tribunal lawyers want to see any response or communications sent by that commanding officer to a medical officer or anybody else about the complaint.

The tribunal said it was seeking the information because it was "necessary and proportional in the interests of justice" and because the documents concerned allegations of abuse and gender discrimination.

It added that the records were also relevant because the female officer “made a superior officer aware of a sexual assault that she alleges to have suffered in the course of her career in the Defence Forces”.

The discovery order is the latest of a long list made by the tribunal since it began in 2024.

A discovery order published earlier this month relates to “false statements made by an unnamed corporal against an officer” in August 2015.

Other documents relate to a claim by a corporal that he was subjected to "retaliation and reprisals" after making a "complaint of abuse" against a senior non-commissioned officer (NCO).

He alleges the retaliation included being charged with an offence under Section 141 of the Defence Act 1954, which states that anyone subject to military law who knowingly makes a false accusation against an officer or man is guilty of an offence against military law.

A conviction by court-martial for the offence carries a penalty of imprisonment or any lesser punishment available to a court-martial.

The tribunal, which is due to restart public hearings in October, is a three-year inquiry into how complaints were handled in the Defence Forces from 1983 until 2024.