Commission on the Public Consultation Response Template

1. Capabilities – In this regard, you may wish to consider future integrated capability development and the planning and delivery requirements to support a joint force approach in terms of new equipment, professional education and training, maintenance and development of infrastructure, developments in military doctrine, and transformative concepts, including specialist capabilities, that prepare and support the Defence Forces for future operations.

2. Structures – In this regard, you may wish to consider the most effective high-level Command and Control (C2) structures within the Defence Forces to ensure an agile and balanced approach that can function across all domains at home and overseas.

Additionally, you may wish to address appropriate future force structures for the Army (including its structure), the Air , and the Naval Service, individually as component services and collectively as part of an integrated joint force approach.

Furthermore, you may wish to address the changing nature of reservists, which presents an opportunity for the Reserve Defence Force to further integrate and support the Permanent Defence Force through the provision of enhanced collective and specialist capability across all domains.

3. Staffing – In this regard you may wish to consider the HR policies that support the requirement for an agile and adaptive modern military force. You may wish to consider issues such as recruitment and retention, organisational culture and values, gender and diversity, career progression, and industrial relations machinery.

The submission I would like to make is that the Defence Forces current policy around laser correction for eyes as laid out in the Terms and Conditions for joining any of the three branches of the Defence Forces, which states that: “Applicants, for whom any one or more of the following criteria apply, will be deemed unfit to join the Permanent Defence Force: (a) Applicants who have had their visual acuity corrected by non- laser surgery or laser surgery involving the raising of the corneal flap” (TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING CADETSHIPS (ARMY) IN THE DEFENCE FORCES 2020, ANNEX C) is not in keeping with the current European military standards on the subject, and should be reviewed. In doing so, I will give a brief overview of what laser correction is, as well as the different varieties, and follow up by demonstrating its acceptance by other European , primarily those with which the Irish Defence Forces operate as part of the EU’s .

What is Laser Correction? Laser correction is the correction of visual problems (myopia, hyperopia etc.) through surgery, where the cornea is reshaped by laser treatment. There are three main treatments that are widely accepted by European military services: LASIK, LASEK and PRK.  Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is the best known and most widely used method of correcting vision problems surgically. The procedure involves an incision being made in the patient's corneal flap, the corneal flap being pulled back from the eye, and being placed back once the necessary corrections (the reshaping of the patient’s cornea) have been made. From personal experience, the final check-up with the optometrist occurred three months after the surgery, with no complications, which is the case for 8 out of 10 patients (Mayo Clinic, LASIK Eye Surgery, https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests- procedures/lasik-eye-surgery/about/pac-20384774).  Laser-assisted-epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK) is a procedure much the same as LASIK with slight differences. One laser is used as opposed to two (as the procedure is generally recommended for those with thinner corneas than normal), and rather than the corneal flap being peeled back, an alcohol solution is applied, and it is moved to the side for the laser-reshaping of the cornea.

 Photorefractive-keratectomy (PRK) follows the same procedure as both LASIK and LASEK, with the cornea being reshaped via laser, however in this case, the corneal flap is removed, growing back over the next week or so. Like LASEK, this treatment is preferred by those whose corneal flap is too thin for LASIK.

LASIK in European Militaries: Today, LASIK is accepted by the vast majority of European militaries, including those that Ireland serves with in both the Nordic and German led Battlegroups. In researching this submission, I contacted the recruitment departments for militaries in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, received official responses from Norway, Sweden and Finland, with testimony from personnel from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. None of these militaries find LASIK treatment to be disqualifying for potential recruits, with restrictions being simply on how long after the treatment must potential applicants wait (on average one year). Similarly, militaries in the United Kingdom (MINISTRY OF DEFENCE, JSP 950 MEDICAL POLICY LEAFLET 6-7-7: JOINT SERVICE MANUAL OF MEDICAL FITNESS, 4, ANNEX A, ARTICLE 3), France (LÉGIFRANCE, INSTRUCTION N° 700/DEF/DCSSA/PC/MA RELATIVE À L’APTITUDE MÉDICAL À LA PRATIQUE DU PARACHUTISME MILITAIRE, SECTION 2.1.3) and Germany (CENTRAL SERVICE REGULATION ZDV 46/1), all allow for LASIK in their personnel. In Ireland, laser correction is also accepted by An Garda Síochána, and is even covered under the force’s medical aid fund (ST. PAUL’S GARDA MEDICAL AID SOCIETY, MEMBER’S GUIDE TO BENEFITS & SUBSCRIPTION RATES EFFECTIVE FROM 1ST JUNE 2017,

SECTION 3.4)

Irish Defence Forces and EU Battlegroups: The Irish Defence Forces have been involved in numerous collaborative efforts with other European as part of the ’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, specifically in the form of Battlegroups. The Battlegroup “is a specific form of the EU’s rapid response elements and is one possible answer to the timely provision of necessary capabilities for an EU rapid response operation” (Irish Defence Forces, The Battlegroup, https://www.military.ie/en/overseas- deployments/the-battlegroup/), with the Defence Forces being involved with the above mentioned Nordic Battlegroup since 2006, and a German-led Battlegroup since 2019 (The Irish Times, Defence Forces personnel to serve in EU battlegroup in 2020, 6 February, 2018, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/defence-forces-personnel-to-serve-in-eu-battlegroup- in-2020-1.3382787). These Battlegroups also serve to develop longer standing partnerships, with Irish and Finnish (who allow for laser correction) personnel partnering in peace-

keeping operations in Chad and Southern (The Irish Times, Defence Forces personnel to serve in EU battlegroup in 2020, 6 February, 2018, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/defence-forces-personnel-to-serve-in-eu-battlegroup- in-2020-1.3382787)

Why Should Laser-Correction be Accepted? In both of these commitments, as demonstrated above, the Defence Forces serve with European militaries whose personnel are eligible to join should they choose to undergo laser corrective surgery. In doing so, the Defence Forces trust that these partners will be adequately capable of ensuring their (the Irish Defence Force’s) personnel’s safety, despite their maybe having undergone such treatment. Therefore, it is illogical that the Defence Forces should not also allow for their own personnel and potential recruits to undergo any of the treatments mentioned above, because, as has been demonstrated, they are considered perfectly acceptable by their military partners in Europe.

4. Any other comments you may wish to make in relation to the Defence Forces having regard to the Commission’s Terms of Reference