26 Miss Flaherty asked the Minister for Defence when all United Nations appointments, subject to UN policy, will be open to women.

No member of the Permanent Defence Force is precluded from selection for a United Nations appointment on the basis of gender. Subject to the policy of the host nation which may not favour the deployment of women in certain circumstances the United Nations, in deploying personnel on a peace-keeping mission, make no distinction between men and women. At present the Irish contingent in Lebanon includes seven women.