The Government is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for men and women in the Defence Forces, including the Reserve Defence Force, and to the full participation by women in all aspects of Defence Forces activities.
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.
Currently, there are eighty 88 female officers serving in the Permanent Defence Force including one lieutenant colonel, 12 commandants, 30 captains and 28 Lieutenants in the Army, one captain and two Lieutenants in the Air Corps, and 14 lieutenants (equivalent to captain rank in the Army and Air Corps) in the Naval Service.