Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 3

Other Questions. - Defence Forces Recruitment.

Denis Naughten

Question:

8 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Defence the plans he has to expand the numbers within the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29361/03]

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

21 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence if it is intended to increase the strength of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29471/03]

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

33 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Defence if a target has been set for the level of female membership of the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29460/03]

Mr. M. Smith

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 21 and 33 together.

The White Paper on Defence of February 2000 sets out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force, comprising 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. The strength of the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service and the number of female personnel by rank within these services, as advised by the military authorities, is provided in the form of a tabular statement which I propose to circulate in the Official Report. The figures provided are as at 31 October 2003 in respect of the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service. In previous years the trend for general service recruitment has been that 9% of all applicants have been female and on average 9% of enlistments have been female. It is obviously not possible to predict what the relevant percentages will be in any future intakes of recruits, but there is no reason to assume that this pattern will change to any great degree.

Some 15.4% of applicants for the 2003 cadetship competition were female and 15.5% of successful candidates were female. Women are eligible for service in the Army, the Air Corps, the Naval Service and the Reserve Defence Force and to compete for all appointments on an equal basis and under the same general conditions as those which apply to men. All female personnel undergo the same training and receive the same military education as their male counterparts. To encourage increased participation by women in the Defence Forces I decided in March 1998 to reduce the height requirement for all female recruits to 5 ft. 4 in. and this height requirement also applies to male recruits.

Strength of the Defence Forces

31 October, 2003.

	LtGen	MajGen	BrigGen	Col	LtCol	Comdt	Capt	Lt	TotalOffrs	SM	Bqms	CS	Cqms	Sgts	Cpls	TotalNcos	Ptes	Cadets	Total
Army	1	3	6	36	118	357	281	228	1,030	32	40	142	249	1,065	1,579	3,107	4,258	99	8,494
Air Corps	0	0	1	2	12	35	24	60	134	7	4	53	15	130	206	415	346	16	911
Naval Service	0	0	1	2	13	40	22	61	139	7	7	75	15	199	139	442	455	28	1,064

Strength of Females in the Defence Forces

31 October, 2003.

	LtGen	MajGen	BrigGen	Col	LtCol	Comdt	Capt	Lt	TotalOffrs	SM	Bqms	CS	Cqms	Sgts	Cpls	TotalNcos	Ptes	Cadets	Total
Army	0	0	0	0	1	13	30	31	75	0	0	3	1	10	84	98	208	15	396
Air Corps	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	1	0	0	6	7	11	1	22
Naval Service	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	14	16	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	42	5	64

Mr. McGinley

Will the Minister indicate what is the present height requirement? What is the reduction in height?

Mr. M. Smith

A couple of years ago I reduced the height requirement for all female recruits to 5 ft. 4 in. I made that decision on the basis of discriminating in favour of women by reducing the height requirement for female applicants below that which was required for male applicants. Unfortunately, under equality legislation I was forced to reduce it for males also. One might regard that as somewhat ridiculous but it was the circumstance that prevailed under equality legislation.

Mr. McGinley

Does the same height regulation apply to all recruits, male and female?

Mr. M. Smith

Yes. I felt at the time that there should be discrimination in favour of females on the height requirement.

Mr. McGinley

It relates to equality.

Mr. M. Smith

I may not have been proven wrong, but I was proven incorrect in terms of the framework of legislation applying on the equality side. There are 396 females in the Army, 22 in the Air Corps and 64 in the Naval Service.

Mr. Sherlock

Arising from Question No. 33, what target has been set for female membership in the Defence Forces?

Mr. M. Smith

There is no specific target. When we set out to recruit, the competition is open. Approximately 9% of the applicants for Defence Forces jobs in the non-enlisted sectors are female, and approximately 9% succeed in their applications. In the case of cadets, approximately 15% are applicants and a little more than 15% succeed. We do not have specific gender targets. The competition is open to males and females.