Efforts to encourage more women to join the defence forces have paid off as figures show a 30 per cent increase in the numbers of women enlisting in 2006.
The annual report of the Department of Defence and Defence Forces, published today, also showed that modernisation of the forces and human resource management were prioritised for key development in the last year.
Speaking today, Defence Minister Willie O'Dea said he had expressed a desire in 2005 to see more women join the defence forces and made a decision to reduce the minimum height requirement for entry to both the permanent defence forces and the reserve defence forces in order to achieve that goal.
The decision saw height requirements drop from 162.56cm (5'4") to 157.48cm (5'2") for both men and women, resulting in a 30 per cent increase in the annual recruitment of women from 60 per cent to 90 per cent and a one per cent increase in the recruitment of men from 97 per cent to 98 per cent.
The Minister said he had also initiated general research into attracting women to careers in the defence forces and had asked the Chief of Staff to take a number of specific actions based on its findings.
The research included interviews with both serving and former female members of the permanent defence force and also interviews with members of the general public, which, he said, would assist in the formulation of policy and female recruitment in the future.
Minister O'Dea also emphasised the importance of modernisation of the defence forces and said his action in this area had substantially improved their value for money, affordability and sustainability.
The Minister said a major re-balancing of expenditure between payroll and investment in equipment and infrastructure had taken place during the past five years and claimed the defence forces were now "equipped to meet all military commitments arising at home and overseas".
Major equipment purchased during the year included the first two medium-lift AW139 helicopters for the Air Corps, with a further two due for delivery later this year and another two due for purchase - providing the defence forces with a total of six of the military aircraft.
A permanent defence forces strength of 10,500 was also maintained for the year 2006.