Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am always open to suggestions. However, I have looked at the British system and a private company does a lot of the recruitment for the British army. This year, 15% of the applications for the cadets have been from females. If my memory serves me correctly, the figure for general service recruitment for females was 13%. However, the Deputy is correct that we must change our recruitment methods. My officials and I are looking at the various systems overseas. We must learn from other countries whether we need a centralised system we need and whether there should be departmental involvement. We must look seriously at this. We must change the way we recruit, which is what the Deputy is talking about, and that is the way I see it happening. We must look at changing the system we have. This is one of the reasons I am looking at direct entry and re-entry and the two-phase recruitment during the year. I was not happy with one recruitment drive each year. Two-phase recruitment presents better opportunities for people. They do not have to wait around for as long to be part of that. A significant number of people, whether well educated or less educated, have different contributions to make to the Defence Forces. If there are people out there who want to apply to the Defence Forces, I encourage them to do so because they ought to have something to offer to the organisation.

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