Vol. 491 No. 7
123 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence whether, in relation to the testing of the hearing of serving members of the FCA, the hearing grades awarded will result in the reservist having to terminate his or her service involuntarily. [13214/98]
Defence Forces regulations outline the determinants governing members of the Defence Forces medical classification, including year of birth, constitution, military fitness, keenness of vision, colour vision and keenness of hearing. Keenness of hearing is subdivided into seven grades. Only if an individual's hearing is diagnosed to be within the seventh category, grade X, that is, severely impaired hearing where an improvement is not expected, will he or she be considered below Defence Forces hearing standards.
