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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 24 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 5

Written Answers. - Defence Forces Recruitment.

Jan O'Sullivan

Ceist:

117 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Defence the overall number of female personnel in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps; the number of women recruited during the current recruitment campaign; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22985/00]

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

204 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence the total number of male and female personnel in the Defence Forces in respect of each rank; the area or areas in respect of which he anticipates an increase in the numbers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23354/00]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 204 together.

The tables which I propose to circulate in the Official Report indicate the strength of male and female personnel within the Permanent Defence Force as at 30 June 2000, the most recent date for which such figures are currently available from the military authorities. These figures provide a breakdown between officers and various non-commissioned ranks across each of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. A total of 44 female personnel have been recruited to the Defence Forces during the current recruitment campaign.

In previous years the trend for general service recruitment has been that 16% of all applicants have been female and that on average 16% 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.

Women are eligible for service in the Army, Air Corps, Naval Service and in 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.

In order 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 4.

Strength of Females in the Defence Forces – 30 June 2000.

LtGen

MajGen

BrigGen

Col

LtCol

Comdt

Capt

Lt

TotalOfficers

Sm

Bqms

Cs

Cqms

Sgts

Cpls

TotalNCOS

Ptes

Cadets

Army

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

6.00

27.00

23.00

56.00

0.00

0.00

1.00

1.00

11.00

34.00

47.00

226.00

9.00

Air Corps

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.00

2.00

4.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.00

1.00

2.00

17.00

0.00

Naval Service

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

1.00

4.00

5.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

38.00

6.00

Strength of Males in the Defence Forces – 30 June 2000.

LtGen

MajGen

BrigGen

Col

LtCol

Comdt

Capt

Lt

TotalOfficers

Sm

Bqms

Cs

Cqms

Sgts

Cpls

TotalNCOS

Ptes

Cadets

Army

1.00

2.00

6.00

28.00

107.00

364.00

293.00

137.00

938.00

35.00

41.00

137.00

245.00

1,029.00

1,745.00

3,232.00

4,360.00

68.00

Air Corps

0.00

0.00

1.00

1.00

8.00

35.00

38.00

37.00

120.00

7.00

4.00

33.00

12.00

105.00

171.00

332.00

373.00

24.00

Naval Service

0.00

0.00

1.00

2.00

10.00

41.00

23.00

31.00

108.00

7.00

7.00

68.00

10.00

190.00

140.00

422.00

407.00

12.00

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