Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

It seems there is a very slight reduction in the number of women serving compared to the information given out by Deputy Killeen's colleague two years ago. There is a higher percentage of women serving at the rank of captain and lieutenant. The total figure for officers was 9.2% at that time. The Minister's predecessor addressed the issue of women in 2006 by reducing the height requirement from 5 ft. 4 in. to 5 ft. 2 in., increasing the potential recruitment pool of women from 60% to 90% of the female population. Has the reduction in the minimum height requirement brought about an improvement in the number of female applicants? Two years ago, the percentage of women serving at NCO level was 4.09%. This seems to be quite low. What are the Minister's comments on these observations?

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