Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Defence the total strength of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps by gender and rank at present; the extent to which the numbers have fluctuated in each of the past five years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55032/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The strength of the Permanent Defence Force at the end of October 2012, the latest date for which figures are available stood at 9,152, of which 573 (6.26%) are women. Comparative figures at the end of 2007 show a strength of 10,434 of which 560 (5.37%) were female.

The attached table contains the strength, broken down into Army, Naval Service and Air Corps by gender and rank groupings for each of the years 2007 to 2011.

The Deputy may note a difference in the figures given here for end-December 2008 and 2009 and those given in my response to PQ 151 of Wednesday, 8th February 2012. In the previous figures, there was a discrepancy of 1 in the totals for 2008 due to a typographical error and the figures given for end-December 2009 were actually the end-January 2010 figures. The figures now provided in the attached tables are the corrected figures.

TABULAR STATEMENT STRENGTH OF THE DEFENCE FORCES 31-Dec-07

TABULAR STATEMENT STRENGTH OF FEMALES IN THE DEFENCE FORCES 31-Dec-07

TABULAR STATEMENT STRENGTH OF MALES IN THE DEFENCE FORCES 31-Dec-07

TABULAR STATEMENT STRENGTH OF THE DEFENCE FORCES 31-Dec-08

TABULAR STATEMENT STRENGTH OF FEMALES IN THE DEFENCE FORCES 31-Dec-08