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Defence Forces

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021

Tuesday, 27 July 2021

Questions (892, 894, 896)

John Brady

Question:

892. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence the number of women in the Defence Forces by rank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39970/21]

View answer

John Brady

Question:

894. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence the number of women members of the Defence Forces who have served overseas in each of the past five years in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39972/21]

View answer

John Brady

Question:

896. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence the number of women members who have left the Defence Forces in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39974/21]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 892, 894 and 896 together.

As at 30th June 2021, the latest date for which such data is available, the number of female personnel in the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) was 594. A breakdown of this strength by rank is attached.

The table below details the number of females who discharged from Permanent Defence Force (PDF) and the number who have served overseas, in each of the past 5 years:

Year

Females discharged

Females Served Overseas

2016

23

66

2017

42

79

2018

53

78

2019

47

101

2020

28

105

-

LT

MAJ

BRIG

COL

LT

COMDT

CAPT

LT

TOTAL

GEN

GEN

GEN

COL

OFFRS

Strength

0

0

1

1

2

62

53

50

169

table cont.

-

SM

BQMS

CS

CQMS

SGTS

CPLS

TOTAL

PTES

CADETS

TOTAL

NCOS

Strength

0

0

5

9

71

95

180

241

4

594

Personnel discharge for a variety of reasons including on age grounds, at end of contract and voluntary discharges. Discharges also include trainees who exited prior to completion of their initial training.

In line with current policies and commitments a number of initiatives have been implemented to increase the level of female participation in the Permanent Defence Force. These include:

- Special consideration is paid to women as a target group for recruitment within the general recruitment framework.

- A Gender Equality and Diversity Officer has been appointed to promote gender equality policies and training within the Defence Forces. The Defence Forces are committed to gender equality and employ a gender perspective in the planning and execution of operations both at home and overseas and in all policies and regulations. Gender Advisors are available to all Brigades and Services and trained Gender Focal Points are deployed with all overseas units and ships in order to promote a gender perspective in operations.

- A Defence Forces Women's Network was established with the aim of increasing the participation of female personnel at all levels of the organisation.

Over the lifetime of the White Paper on Defence, a number of projects will be progressed to ensure the development and promotion of strategies that continue to support increased female participation in the Defence Forces.

The Government remains committed to a policy of equal opportunity for men and women throughout the Defence Forces and to the full participation by women in all aspects of Defence Forces activities.

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