No top-brass women in Defence Forces

THE number of women in the Defence Forces has almost doubled in the last six years, but no female officer has been promoted beyond the fifth-highest rank of lieutenant colonel.

Figures from the Department of Defence show there are 493 female personnel in the permanent Defence Forces, 249 more than there were at the end of 1997. Of these, 406 women are in the army; 21 are in the air corps and 66 are in the navy.

However, the figures reveal that no female staff member in any division of the Defence Forces has progressed beyond the rank of lieutenant colonel, a title held by just one woman in the army. The highest rank reached by women in the air corps and the navy is captain. The majority of female military staff retain the rank of officer.

But Defence Minister Michael Smith insists that the Government is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and full participation by women in the Defence Forces. In a statement, Mr Smith said that women are eligible to compete for promotion “on an equal basis and under the same general conditions as those which apply to men.”

“Female personnel are generally being promoted at the same stage in their career as male personnel,” said Mr Smith in response to a parliamentary question by Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan.

Comparable figures for men show that large numbers of the total 9,956 male personnel have been promoted to the top positions. All ranks of lieutenant general, major general and brigadier general are staffed by men. There are also 42 male colonels and 150 men are ranked as lieutenant colonels.

“All female personnel undergo the same training and receive the same military education as their male counterparts,” the minister continued.

Mr Smith also revealed the Defence Forces have acquired 8,000 new nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) suits to equip personnel in the event of a terrorist attack.

Defence Forces personnel are being trained to use a new range of modern NBC equipment that includes a stock of respirators for each individual soldier and 98 of the most up to date chemical agent monitors.

“A programme for the purchase of NBC equipment is ongoing,” the minister said.

“This will also include biological agent detector and screening kits.”