Mr Duffy, a qualified barrister, was deputy chair of the Labour Court from 1997 and chair from 2003, retiring in June 2016.

He is currently adjunct professor at Maynooth University Law Department.

His appointment will be on an interim basis for a period of 12 months and he will be supported in his role by a panel of external HR professionals.

Tánaiste and defence minister Micheál Martin said: “The introduction of this new independent and external grievance process is another important step in the cultural transformation of the Defence Forces. My priority is to make it available to personnel without further delay.

“I want to thank Kevin Duffy for taking on this role, to which he brings a wealth of highly valuable experience and expertise to.

“I want also to acknowledge the constructive engagement of the External Oversight Body, the Defence Forces Representative Associations and to the Women’s Networks, all of whom contributed to the development of this process, which I believe will provide a strong basis on which to legislate for a permanent complaints’ resolution process.”

The new grievance process will provide members of the Defence Forces with an external and independent process through which complaints of an interpersonal nature can be investigated.

It was one of the key recommendations of the Independent Review Group (IRG) established in 2022 to examine dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces.

The new process will be implemented initially on a non-statutory basis for a pilot of 12 months, with a view to implementing a more permanent statutory-based complaints scheme.

Mr Duffy was recently also the independent chair of a working group established to develop a complaints process for civilian employees and civil servants who work with the Defence Forces.

Mr Martin said he had accepted the report of that working group and the new complaints process will be introduced and communicated shortly.

“This is another important milestone in the implementation of the IRG recommendations and a further demonstration of the government’s commitment to driving cultural change,” he said.