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Gender Equality

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 January 2019

Thursday, 17 January 2019

Ceisteanna (27)

Clare Daly

Ceist:

27. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if a comprehensive audit or survey of women’s experience of bullying, harassment and inequality in the Defence Forces is planned with a view to exploring women’s experience of same and making relevant recommendations for change. [1959/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Government is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for men and women throughout the Defence Forces and to the full participation by women in all aspects of Defence Forces activities. This is underlined by a commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the level of female participation in the Defence Forces. The Defence Forces Dignity Charter states that the Defence Forces are committed to maintaining a work environment, whether within the Sate or when deployed overseas, that encourages the right of each individual to dignity in their work environment and in all activities of their service.

The Dignity Charter also states that bullying, sexual harassment and harassment in any form is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. I am fully committed to this and have outlined on many occasions that such behaviour is completely unacceptable. Complaints relating to incidents of inappropriate behaviour may be lodged under the provisions of Administrative Instruction A.7. Reports relating to incidents of this nature are provided to me by the Chief of Staff on a regular basis.

The Defence Forces are committed to gender equality and employ a gender perspective in all policies and regulations. Military Gender Advisors are employed by the Defence Forces to provide education on gender perspective and in the context of overseas service, awareness of gender based violence in conflict and other settings. A Gender Advisor has also been appointed to promote gender equality policies and training within the Defence Forces.

Unlike some other national armed forces, the Defence Forces have no restrictions with regard to the assignment of men or women to the full range of operational and administrative duties. Women, therefore, play a full and meaningful role in all aspects of Defence Forces operations at home and overseas. In line with the Programme for Government commitment to increase the level of female participation, special consideration is paid to women as a target group for recruitment and within the general recruitment framework, there are specific initiatives which focus on potential female recruits such as female-focused advertising, creation of female specific recruitment videos and targeted social media advertising. Between 2016 and 2017 some €180,000 was spent on such female-focused recruitment.

Over the lifetime of the White Paper further projects will be progressed to ensure that the development and promotion of strategies that support female participation in the Defence Forces is continued. Such projects include:-

- Development of further initiatives to encourage more women to apply for the Defence Forces and to increase female participation at all ranks.

- Conduct of a survey to identify any impediments to the advancement of women in the PDF.

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