Defence Forces

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022

Thursday, 14 July 2022

Questions (431, 432, 433, 442, 443, 446, 447, 448)

John Brady

Question:

431. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence the current number of women in the Defence Forces, by rank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38991/22]

John Brady

Question:

432. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence if he will detail the number of women in the Defence Forces who are currently serving overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38992/22]

John Brady

Question:

433. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence if he will detail the number of women members of the Defence Forces who have left in 2022, by month; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38993/22]

John Brady

Question:

442. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence if he will detail the number of women members of the Defence Forces who have served overseas in the past five years, by year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39002/22]

John Brady

Question:

443. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence the number of women recruited to the Defence Forces in the past five years, by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39003/22]

John Brady

Question:

446. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence the number of women members who have left the Defence Forces in the past five years, by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39006/22]

John Brady

Question:

447. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence if the Defence Forces have undertaken any recruitment drives or campaigns specifically targeted at women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39007/22]

John Brady

Question:

448. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Defence if the Defence Forces have undertaken any recruitment drives or campaigns specifically targeted at citizens from an ethnic background; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39008/22]

Written answers

Minister for Defence

I propose to take Questions Nos. 431 to 433, inclusive, 442, 443 and 446 to 448, inclusive, together.

As at 31 May, 2022, the latest date for which such figures are available, 33 of the 586 female Permanent Defence Force personnel were serving overseas.

The requested breakdown of the total female strength of 586, by rank, is as follows.

OFFICER	LT GEN	MAJ GEN	BRIG GEN	COL	LT COL	COMDT	CAPT	LT
	0	0	1	1	2	59	51	52
OTHER RANKS	SM	BQMS	CS	CQMS	SGT	CPL	PTE	CADET
	0	0	5	8	67	104	231	5

The table below details the number of females who, in each of the past 5 years, were inducted and discharged from the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) and the number of PDF female personnel who served overseas.

Year	Total Females Inducted	% of Total Inductions	Females discharged	Females Served Overseas
2017	69	9.2%	42	79
2018	50	8.2%	53	78
2019	44	7.3%	47	101
2020	42	7.8%	32	105
2021	44	7.6%	47	92

As of 31st May 2022, 26 females were discharged from the PDF, as follows.

Month	January	February	March	April	May
Discharges	2	6	14	2	2

Typically, discharges include personnel who left for a variety of reasons including on age grounds, at end of contract and voluntary discharges and would also include any trainees who exited prior to completion of their initial training.

The Government remains committed to a policy of equal opportunity for men and women throughout the Defence Forces and a number of initiatives have been implemented to increase the level of female participation. In the context of the White Paper on Defence, a specific project is ongoing to conduct a survey to identify any impediments to the advancement of women in the Permanent Defence Force.

Current recruitment campaigns have an enduring requirement to reach out to females within the recruitment demographic via a variety of channels, including social media, sporting organisations and schools. The military authorities further advise that potential applicants from an ethnic background are included in the target demographic that the Defence Forces seeks to reach in regular campaigns and ongoing promotions through various channels.

Furthermore, the work of the Commission on the Defence Forces included, inter alia, consideration of diversity, recruitment and retention matters. I received Government approval on Tuesday, 12th July, to move to Level of Ambition 2, as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission on the Defence Forces. Government also approved a High Level Action Plan which sets out the response of Government in relation to each of the 130 recommendations in the Commission's report.

Question No. 432 answered with Question No. 431.

Question No. 433 answered with Question No. 431.