Defence Minister Helen McEntee has said that it is a priority to “diversify” the Defence Forces in “every way possible,” including “increasing the number of women” in the Irish military.
Speaking to reporters outside Government Buildings this morning ahead of a cabinet meeting, the Fine Gael Minister said there would be a “huge continued focus” on ensuring cultural change within the organisation.
“There’ll be a huge continued focus on ensuring meaningful cultural change within the defence forces,” McEntee said.
“There’ll be a particular focus on increased recruitment, so I look forward to, in a couple of weeks, bringing forward a new workforce plan.”
The Minister described her intention to grow the military’s numbers as quickly as possible, noting a greater emphasis on civilianisation and a “targeted approach” to encourage more women to join.
“It’s my intention that we grow our numbers as quickly as possible,” she said.
“That we have a greater emphasis on civilianisation within the defence forces, but also that there’s a targeted approach to encourage more women into the defence forces, which I think we need to focus on.”
McEntee stated that current female participation remains low and that the department is working on campaigns to highlight the military as a “valuable career” for women.
“We still have quite a low number of female members in the defence forces,” McEntee said.
“I think there’s a number of things we need to do.
“Firstly, we need to ensure that there’s targeted campaigns, and that’s something that’s been worked on at the moment.”
The Minister continued by addressing the need for cultural change, acknowledging that past challenges experienced by members could deter women from considering a military career.
“I think it’s really important that we continue with really meaningful cultural change within the defence forces,” she continued.
“We know that there are many women and men who have come forward about challenges that they have experienced within the defence forces and quite frankly, I think that would put off a lot of women in considering this as a career.”
McEntee further asserted that increasing diversity would be a primary objective of an upcoming workforce plan scheduled for the coming weeks.
“So, that will be a priority in the new workforce plan as well,” she said.
“The workforce plan will focus on the overall numbers and targets and what we want to achieve.
“It will focus on diversification within the defence forces, which means diversifying in every way possible, increasing the number of women that we have.”
Gript previously reported on the Irish Defence’ Forces push towards “diversity” training, which has caused consternation among some enlisted soldiers.