Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 296: To ask the Minister for Defence the progress made on the research he commissioned into the attitudes of women to careers in the Defence Forces; the nature and scope of the research undertaken; the persons surveyed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8996/07]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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As you know, I am keen to increase the number of women applying to join our Defence Forces. To facilitate this I initiated research into recruitment and retention of women in the Defence Forces. To this end, following a tendering process, TNS MRBI, an independent market research company was awarded the contract to undertake research into the issue of recruitment and retention of women in the Defence Forces. The market research included interviews with currently serving female members of the Permanent Defence Force, former members of the Permanent Defence Force and members of the general public.

The research methodology used incorporated both a qualitative and quantitative approach. The qualitative research approach encompassed a series of 28 in-depth interviews with key informants, including women currently in the Defence Forces (10), ex-members of the Defence Forces (3), school leavers (4), parents of school leavers (4), career guidance councillors (5), and representatives of the National Women's Council and the National Centre for Guidance in Education. The fieldwork was conducted from September to November 2006.

There were two quantitative phases undertaken, the first was a national survey of 522 females aged over 15 and the second was a survey of serving female PDF members. The national survey of females aged over 15 was conducted via telephone and is fully representative of the population. Quota controls were imposed for age, socioeconomic class and region. The fieldwork for this aspect of the quantitative phase was conducted from 17th-26th October 2006. The survey of all serving female PDF members was conducted between November 2006 and January 2007 via a self-completion questionnaire. The data was weighted by rank and location to reflect the population of serving females in the PDF.

This report has been submitted to me and is currently being considered by officials from my Department. The results of this market research will assist in the formulation of policy and practice in this area for the future.