Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The military authorities have advised that, as of 31 August 2023, 6,844 initial applications had been made to join the Permanent Defence Force across all competitions, of which 858 were from female applicants. Of these applications, 6,081 were deemed eligible applications. A total of 244 personnel have been inducted as of the same date, of whom 18 are female. In addition to ineligible applications, a large number of candidates fail to attend or are unsuccessful at various stages of selection process. For example, 2,399 candidates, of whom 323 were female, did not attend for psychometric testing, which is the first stage in the recruitment process following the submission of an eligible application.

The military authorities keep all aspects of recruitment under ongoing review to ensure they determine effectively a candidate's suitability for entry to the Defence Forces. On this basis, psychometric testing in the Naval Service general service recruitment was paused in June 2023, on a pilot basis, for six months. An analysis of the revised approach will take place that will inform future decisions on this process. Fitness test scoring has also been amended to a traffic light system, where reduced capacity does not necessarily preclude an individual from the recruitment process.

A specialist external company has recently been retained to validate and assess the Defence Forces current recruitment process and the candidate's recruitment journey in the Naval Service. This will entail best practice research to identify possible opportunities for improvement of the current Defence Forces recruitment process, and an examination of the causes for the drop-off at various stages.

Efforts to increase the number of female applicants is continuing, with special consideration being paid to women as a target group for recruitment in the general recruitment framework. Military management advises that a female-specific recruitment team is being established with the aim of highlighting the career opportunities available for women in the Defence Forces.