asked the Minister for Labour if his attention has been drawn to the call made by the Chief Executive Officer of the Employment Equality Agency to bring the Defence Forces within the scope of the equality legislation; if, particularly in view of the fact that women are excluded from apprenticeships in the Defence Forces, he will examine the possibility of extending the equality legislation to cover the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Defence Forces.
3.
The Defence Amendment (No. 2) Act, 1979, permitted the enlistment and appointment of females in the Defence Forces. Since 1980 20 female cadets and 40 others have joined the Permanent Defence Force. In addition competitions for special or technical appointments are open to both sexes and women have been appointed to such positions.
I am aware of the Employment Equality Agency's request to have the Defence Forces brought within the scope of the Employment Equality Act, 1977, and I will examine the matter further in the context of the review of that legislation currently in progress.
The question relates specifically to the refusal of the Department of Defence to employ female apprentices. We are contending that unless the equality legislation is extended to cover this area they will continue to do so. Have the Minister's Department been in touch with the Department of Defence to find out why they consistently refuse to employ female apprentices?
The Department of Labour have been in touch with them and we are informed that because of a shortage of suitable accommodation it has not been possible to provide for an intake of female apprentices to date. They have given an undertaking to consider the matter but there is the difficulty of scarce resources. In fairness to the Department of Defence, they have been endeavouring over the past few years to take more females into the Force at different levels. Apprenticeship is the one exclusion.
Have the Department of Defence been asked to substantiate the claim that they have an accommodation problem? My information is that they board out male apprentices and there is no reason why they cannot offer the same facility to female apprentices.
I will raise that matter with the Department of Defence.
Would the Minister accept that over a number of years there has been a marked lack of enthusiasm on the part of the Department of Defence and the Army general staff in implementing the legislation? Would he indicate to his colleague, the Minister for Defence, that unless some greater evidence of goodwill is forthcoming they can expect to find legislation covering the area?
In fairness it should be said that when the legislation was drawn up the Defence Forces were excluded because of the security nature of the employment. At that stage it was considered that females would not be in combatant positions but that has changed following the 1979 Act. The Army have made some strides in making changes, particularly at cadet level.
I would not call them strides.
They are most unenthusiastic about it. They need to be pushed hard.