Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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466. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he or his Department employ persons or firms to deal with public relations; if so, the number of persons employed by his Department to deal with public relations; the names of firms involved; and the total amount spent on public relations by his Department. [23218/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Neither I, nor my Department, employ persons or firms to deal with public relations.  My Department has a Communications Office to provide information to the public and media.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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467. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the maximum and the current strength levels, respectively of the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23303/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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468. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the maximum and the current strength levels, respectively of the Naval Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23304/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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471. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the current number of women in the Defence Forces by rank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23307/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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472. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the current number of women in the Defence Forces who are currently serving overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23308/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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473. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of women members of the Defence who have left in 2022, by month; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23309/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 467, 468, 471, 472 and 473 together.

The following table details the current strength, as of the 31st of March 2022, of the PDF and the 3 branches along with the corresponding agreed establishment.

As at 31 March, 2022, there were 577 Permanent Defence Force (PDF) personnel serving overseas, of which 37 were female.

Of the 8,366 PDF personnel, 591 are female. The requested breakdown of this female strength, by rank, is as follows:

in 2022, 2 women were discharged in January, 6 in February, 14 in March and 1 in April. Typically, discharges include personnel who left for a variety of reasons including on age grounds, at end of contract and voluntary discharges and would also include any trainees who exited prior to completion of their initial training.

The Government remains committed to a policy of equal opportunity for men and women throughout the Defence Forces and a number of initiatives have been implemented to increase the level of female participation. In addition, in the context of the White Paper on Defence, a specific project is ongoing to conduct a survey to identify any impediments to the advancement of women in the Permanent Defence Force.

Furthermore, the work of the Commission on the Defence Forces included, inter alia, consideration of gender, recruitment and retention matters. The Commission’s report was published on 9 February 2022 and all recommendations are being carefully considered. I intend to bring a proposed response to the report’s recommendations and a high-level action plan to the government for consideration.