Carol Nolan
Question:115. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Defence the steps that are being taken to recruit members of the LGBTQIA+ community to the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36648/22]
View answerWednesday, 6 July 2022
Questions (115)
Written answers
The Defence Forces are fully committed to the equality and diversity policy objectives as detailed in the White Paper on Defence, which includes explicit commitment to the principles of equal opportunity in all employment policies, procedures and regulations and equal opportunities irrespective of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
The Defence Forces recognises the need to ensure that the societal changes being witnessed in Ireland would also be reflected in the Defence organisation. In 2016, the Defence Forces current Diversity and Inclusion Strategy Statement and Action Plan was launched and detailed the Defence Forces approach to diversity and inclusion across the various strands of the organisation’s activities, including recruitment.
Examples of initiatives implemented with a view to increasing the diversity of Defence Forces personnel include:
- Equality and diversity outreach opportunities, at regional and local levels, availed of to promote recruitment opportunities.
- The Military.ie website includes an education piece on Gender, Equality and Diversity.
- A review of the Defence Force’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy Statement and Action Plan in 2020 provided recommendations for the development of the strategy into the future.
- Both the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces are represented on a Committee, led by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, established to oversee and monitor progress on the implementation of the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2021.
- A Joint Civil/Military working group was established in 2019, to progress the Transgender Employment Policy for the Defence Forces. This work is continuing.
In addition, the work of the Commission on the Defence Forces included deliberation on diversity in the Defence Forces. Consideration of the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces is ongoing. I intend to revert shortly to Government with a proposed response to those recommendations and a high-level action plan, which will set out proposed timelines and oversight arrangements for its implementation.