Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 16 Nov 2000

Vol. 526 No. 2

Written Answers. - Defence Forces Personnel.

David Stanton

Ceist:

57 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence the number of personnel appointed or attached to the Army Equitation School; the rank and appointment of each; if he has satisfied himself that gender balance is being achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26129/00]

David Stanton

Ceist:

58 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence the efforts that are being made to achieve gender balance in the Defence Forces; if he has satisfied himself with progress to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26130/00]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith):

I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 58 together.

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 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. 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".

In recent 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 the relevant percentages in any future intakes of recruits, but there is no reason to assume that this pattern will change to any great degree.

The current strength of military personnel appointed or attached to the Army Equitation School is 38 comprising ten officers, nine non-commissioned officers, 16 privates, one of whom is on leave of absence, and three cadets, which figures include seven female personnel in all comprising one officer, five privates, one on leave of absence and one cadet.

The various ranks and appointments of personnel in the Army Equitation School are as follows:

Rank	TotalStrength	Female	Appointment
Lt. Colonel	1	–	Officer Commanding
Comdt.	1	–	2 I/C
Capt.	2	–	1 Admin. Officer1 Riding Officer
Lt.	6	1	Riding Officers
C/S	1	–	Groom
CQMS	1	–	Groom
Sgt.	1	–	Instructor/Clerk Groom
Cpl.	6	–	Grooms
Pte.	16	5	15 Grooms*1 Cook (on detachment)
Cadets	3	1	On Cadet training.

*1 on leave of absence.

As already stated, women are eligible on an equal basis for all appointments in the Defence Forces, including those in the Equitation School. As of 30 June 2000, the most recent date for which such details are available, 410 female personnel were in service in the Permanent Defence Force. This represents approximately 4% of serving personnel. The percentage of female personnel serving in the Army Equitation School is in fact higher than the overall average for the Permanent Defence Force.