Matt Carthy
Question:
264. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the number of women in the Army, Naval Service, Air Corps and Reserve Defence Forces, by rank, for the years 2010 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28535/23]
View answer
I am informed by the military authorities that it was not possible to collate the required information within the timeframe available. I shall provide the information to the Deputy once it becomes available.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51.
The military authorities have provided the information in the attached table which contains the requested breakdown of the number of women in the Army, Naval Service, Air Corps and Reserve Defence Forces, by rank, for the years 2010 to 31 May 2023 which is the last date such information is available from. The Defence Forces are an equal opportunity employer and, in addition to increasing overall capacity, it is Government policy to increase female participation rates at all levels of the Defence Forces to reflect the society from which the Defence Forces are drawn and serve.
The White Paper on Defence contains a number of projects with a view to increasing participation of females in the Defence Forces. Furthermore the High Level Action Plan agreed by Government to implement the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces contains a range of projects designed to assist in achieving the target rate of 35% female participation. An example of this is the early action to appoint a gender advisor at Colonel level in the Defence Forces, which has been accepted in principle and is being progressed.
