An Cosantóir

INTERVIEW WITH DEFENCE FORCES HEAD OF TRANSFORMATION MR BRIAN MOLLOY An Cosantóir January / February 2024 www.military.ie/magazine 12 | BY SGT RENA KENNEDY PHOTOS BY AIRMAN SAM GIBNEY Before we get into specifics, what are your views on the overall Detailed Implementation Plan? The Detailed Implementation Plan is a very important document as it sets out clearly the timelines for commencement and completion of recommendations from the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF). Notwithstanding the fact that it is a living document operating within a very dynamic environment, this means that all DF members have visibility on the commitment from the Government, the Department and the Defence Forces Board to implement the findings of the CODF. I got the impression that in some quarters there was a degree of cynicism as to whether these recommendations would ever see the light of day so I think it is important that we have captured them all in a formal document which has been endorsed by the Minister for Defence and noted by Cabinet. There is no doubt that some people will feel that the timings could be different – that's always the way – but I think getting the various commitments set out clearly should give comfort to people that the much talked about transformation of the Defence Forces is happening. Can you outline the journey from publication of the Report of The Commission on the Defence Forces to the Detailed Implementation Plan? The Commission report was published in February 2022 and was quite a comprehensive document dealing with all aspects of the Defence Forces. Given the importance of the report, the Government acted very quickly in producing the High Level Action Plan (HLAP) in June 2022 which contained the official response to the Commission Report. This response included a commitment to move to LOA2 by 2028 and outlined how the Government planned to deal with each of the recommendations (originally 69 but expanded out to 130 when sub-recommendations were included) – some were accepted, some accepted in principle, some subject to further evaluation and a relatively small number have to be reverted back to Government for decision. The HLAP identified a series of 38 Early Actions which would be targeted for completion by the end of 2022. This was very ambitious and there was slippage in the dates in some cases but 37 out of 38 were achieved. The HLAP had included the production of a Detailed Implementation Plan as one of the early actions. The update document that was issued in March 2023 included the expectation that the Detailed Implementation Plan would be completed during the second quarter of 2023 however the DIP publication was not achieved until Q4 2023. What caused the delay from the publication of the High Level Action Plan to the delivery of the DIP? There were a number of factors behind the delayed publication – some of the early actions took longer than had been envisaged and the production of the DIP was predicated on the completion of some of these actions (for example the recruitment of my role). The publication of the report from the Independent Review Group (IRG-DF) which focused on HR and Cultural issues in the Defence Forces and had significant cross-over with the CODF report in a number of areas. So we needed to ensure that the plans for the implementation of the Strategic HR & Cultural elements of the DIP were coherent with the recommendations contained in the IRG-DF. The overarching Strategic Framework (announced in March and published in September), by the Tánaiste, covering all aspects of Defence Forces Transformation and the priority items contained in that Strategic Framework also had to be reflected in the DIP. As the Tánaiste said in his foreword to the Update on the 38 Early Actions document in March 2023, it was important that the Detailed Implementation Plan be "completed expediently but more important that we get it right". So whilst there were delays and there is no question but that the delays were frustrating for the members of the Defence Forces, the ambitions contained in the CODF have been reflected in the DIP and the timeline for attainment of LOA2 was not impacted by these delays. What are the quick wins you feel have had an immediate impact on improving day to day life in the Defence Forces? There is a rolling delivery of change happening across Detailed Implementation Plan Report HoT Mr Brian Molloy in a recent meeting with COS Lt Gen Seán Clancy

• Cover