Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's reply was short on reference to the LGBT community. Is the Minister of State confident that he can attract a sufficient number of women to the Permanent Defence Force and, in effect, double their representation in the force?

I understand from quotes in the media that recruitment will be targeted towards women who are sporty, as they are team players and winners. I hope the recruitment process is more targeted and scientific than that. The fitness requirement for the Defences Forces is already in place as part of the recruitment process. I believe we need to broaden the net in this recruitment drive. Our soldiers need to be more than just athletes.

As the 2015 White Paper on Defence highlights, we need to make the recruitment of more females a priority in our Defence Forces. We need to reflect UN Security Council Resolution 1325 requiring parties to conflicts and peacekeepers to have a greater awareness of the effect of war on women and this requires a complex skills set which I know the Defence Forces provides. We do not want to inadvertently isolate good candidates from the recruitment process before it even begins.

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