52 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Defence the action he will take to address the extremely low numbers of women members in the Defence Forces. [17463/00]

66 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Defence the total number of personnel recruited to the Defence Forces during the past three years; the total percentage of this number who were women; the steps he is taking to ensure greater gender balance in the Defence Forces, especially in regard to the officer corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17497/00]

69 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Defence if there is equality in the criteria to enter the Army for male and female applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17501/00]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 66 and 69 together.

Women are eligible for service in the Army, Air Corps, Naval Service and in the Reserve Defence Force and to compete for all appointments on an equal basis and under the same general conditions as those which apply to men. All female personnel undergo the same training and receive the same military education as their male counterparts.

To encourage increased participation by women in the Defence Forces, I decided in March 1998 to reduce the height requirement for all female recruits to 5'4".

The military authorities advise that in previous years the trend for general service recruitment has been that 16% of all applicants have been female and that on average 16% of enlistments have been female. It is obviously not possible to predict what the relevant percentages will be in any future intakes of recruits, but there is no reason to assume that this pattern will change to any great degree.