Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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80. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he is satisfied that the systems and structures in place to encourage and facilitate the promotion of female officers and ratings to higher ranks within the Naval Service are adequate in view of the fact that no female chief petty officer has been appointed since 1995. [40027/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Defence Forces are an inclusive, equal opportunity organisation that encourages participation of women at all levels. All promotion competitions are open to female members of the Naval Service and, while no female personnel have been promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Service to date, female Petty Officers have competed in the competitions.

Such competitions are merit based and the gender of the candidate plays no role in the selection process. They are competency based competitions and require candidates to meet qualifying criteria as laid down in the promotion agreements.

The Defence Forces are committed to promoting equality in all aspects of their work and this is clearly set out in the Defence Forces Equality Policy, which commits to ensuring that the principles of equality are adhered to in all its employment policies, procedures, instructions and regulations. A Gender Advisor has been appointed to promote gender equality policies and training within the Defence Forces.

A Women's Network was established in 2016 and its aim is to support women in their work and to lead to their greater participation at all levels. There are also 30 trained facilitators within the Defence Forces which conduct female-only meetings in order to allow women to explore gender equality and military professional themes in an atmosphere of confidentiality and trust.

In addition, the Naval Service has a Female Forum, for all ranks, that meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to female personnel in the Naval Service and to develop a network to extend support opportunities and enhance their naval experience.

Career advice and mentoring is provided to all Naval Service Personnel through Branch Warrant Officers and the Naval Service HR Officer.

Notwithstanding these proactive initiatives, over the lifetime of the White Paper further projects will be progressed to ensure that the development and promotion of strategies that support increased female participation in the Defence Forces is continued. Such projects include:

- Developing further initiatives to encourage more women to apply for the Defence Forces and to increase female participation at all ranks.

- Conducting a survey to identify any impediments to the advancement of women in the PDF