Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply. Many people from the north inner city of Dublin, which I represent, contact me after their applications to join the Defence Forces are unsuccessful. While I do not suggest they are discriminated against, their applications seem to result in an inordinate lack of success. It seems to me that the Army should be more anxious to get more staff from this area. The Garda is keen to recruit from the north inner city, if possible. The Army does not seem to have a terribly positive attitude to those whose origin, location or postal address is in Dublin 1, in particular.

The Minister responded to my question about whether people can reapply to join the Defence Forces by saying of course they can reapply. Is there any chance of second applications being successful, however? Can the Minister tell me what percentage of people who reapply are successful? If a further application is made by a person who was not successful in the first instance, it is likely that he or she will not be successful on the second occasion. It is rather unsatisfactory that my constituents are experiencing such circumstances.

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