Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Direct entry competitions are also being held as required from which specialist appointments are being filled. To date, this year 19 instrumentalists have been appointed and five engine room personnel have also been inducted. The Defence Forces school of music and Naval Service accommodated those respectively. It is expected that 25 Air Corps apprentice trainee technicians, a conductor for the Defence Forces school of music and a medial officer will be inducted by the end of this year. There is also a recruitment campaign for the Defence Force Reserve which needs to dramatically increase its numbers. Active recruitment is taking place to do that.

An important issue is to ensure we are an equal employer for everybody. Yesterday, I was in Galway for the PDFORRA conference. The new Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, made it clear that a major priority for him is to ensure that in our recruitment campaigns we are equal employers regardless of sexual orientation, regardless of who one is or where one comes from, or whether one is male or female. We want an appropriate balance with the Defence Forces. The targeting within recruitment campaigns will try to reflect that.

See this speech in context