Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023
33. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the recruitment targets, the number of expected retirements and the net increase of personnel within the Defence Forces in each year up to 2028. [51139/23]
View answerWill the Tánaiste outline his expectation for the number of members of the Defence Forces at the end of this year and the targets for each year up to 2028?
The military authorities have provided me with a table showing the estimated number of personnel who will be required to retire on age grounds from next year up to 2028, if they serve their full contract term. It should be noted that many personnel leave the Defence Forces before reaching mandatory retirement age. The table outlining projected mandatory retirement figures, which should be read bearing in mind this caveat, will be provided to the Deputy.
Similarly, in regard to recruitment, induction numbers fluctuate from year to year. Budget 2024 allocated €1.23 billion for the defence sector, which included a provision for the recruitment and training of a net additional 400 personnel in 2024. As part of strategies to achieve this, a joint induction training centre has been established at Gormanston. The military authorities have advised that when fully operational, this centre will enable induction training to be provided to 900 recruits per annum. Recruitment of cadets will also continue each year, with current recruitment capacity standing at 60 cadets per annum.
While recruitment and retention issues in the Defence Forces are acknowledged, there has been significant progress in improving the pay and conditions of personnel. Current pay rates, including military service allowance, for the ranks of private 3 star-able seaman, in their first three years of service, start at €38,016 in year one, rising to €40,700 in the third year of service. A graduate cadet, on commissioning, starts on €47,245, and a school-leaver cadet starts at €41,962 while in full-time third level education. Private medical care has been rolled out to all ranks in the Defence Forces. I recently announced a doubling of the amount of the patrol duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea after the first ten days in a calendar year. This measure consolidates, simplifies and improves existing seagoing allowances. The seagoing tax credit has also been retained.
A further range of financial and non-financial recruitment and retention measures are also being advanced. An examination of mandatory retirement ages is ongoing, with interim extensions already agreed for privates, corporals and sergeants to end-2024. There will be a comprehensive review of medical services in the Defence Forces. Work is ongoing on associate membership of the ICTU for the representative associations. The policy position on the working time directive is being finalised. External recruitment expertise is being engaged to inform current recruitment processes.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
I stress that there is no lack of interest in joining the Defence Forces, as evidenced by the total of 8,230 applications received up to 31 October 2023. This includes 1,213 applications for the 60 cadet competition places, which will ensure the current good strength at the officer ranks is maintained into the future.
I acknowledge that there was already a recruitment and retention crisis within the Defence Forces when the Government came to office. The job of the Government was to address that by stemming the exodus of highly trained men and women from our Army, Naval Service and Air Corps and beginning to rebuild. We all accept this was a significant task, considering the underinvestment for the preceding decade. At that time, there was an establishment figure of approximately 9,500. The starting point when the Government took office was that there were 8,650 personnel in place. When the Tánaiste took the reins as Minister for Defence halfway through the lifetime of the Government, that number was down to 7,966. Since then, the establishment figure has increased to 9,600, but the latest figure I have shows a current strength of 7,671 personnel. For all the actions the Tánaiste has outlined, does he accept we still have a situation where more people are leaving the Defence Forces than are joining, and when does he expect that to change? I ask that he answer with reference to target numbers for personnel within the Defence Forces this year and over the next number of years.
I gave that figure, which is net 400.
Does the Tánaiste accept he gave the same number this time last year?
The Deputy asked for the figure and I have given it in my reply. We are, of course, conscious of a recruitment and retention issue within the Defence Forces. I identified a long list of measures we have taken to improve allowances and improve the situation overall for members of our Defence Forces in order to attract new members and encourage retention. There are issues around recruitment processes, which is why we have enlisted and taken on board external advice. A significant number of people apply to join the Defence Forces in any given year, including thousands this year. Some 1,213 candidates applied for 60 cadet competition places, for example. At the officer ranks level, current strength will be more than maintained. We need to look at the rate of conversion from application to recruitment. There are issues apart altogether from the allowances issue, which I am pursuing with our military leadership and the Department of Defence.
I agree with the Tánaiste's final point. The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces has outlined the procedures that are in place for joining the Defence Forces. They would make your head spin. I am sure the Tánaiste will acknowledge that he told the Dáil this time last year that the budget had provided funding for a net increase of 400 personnel within the Defence Forces in 2023. So far this year, there are 300 fewer people in the Defence Forces than there were last year. Does he accept that the work done over the past 12 months has not been sufficient to address the tide of departures? What does he consider to be a failure? If he sets targets and fails to meet them, and the situation gets worse in terms of there being more people leaving the Defence Force than joining, when does he consider it appropriate to sit down with the representative organisations for Defence Forces members and set out a plan that has their agreement and will address the haemorrhaging of personnel we are witnessing? Our Defence Forces are nowhere near the optimal level in current strength and absolutely miles away from the strength that is envisaged in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.
As the Deputy knows, I was not Minister for Defence this time last year, nor was he his party's spokesperson on defence. There are a number of factors at play, of which the buoyant employment market is a key one. We have been close to full employment over the past two years. There is significant evidence that private industry has recruited a lot of our naval personnel and other staff from other agencies. It is an employees' market and has been for the past two to three years. Notwithstanding that, we have significantly improved pay allowances and other benefits such as healthcare. More than that will be required, which is why we brought in external recruitment specialists to identify and improve the processes and methods by which people are recruited into the Defence Forces. The cultural transformation is also important. In addition, it is important to address the issues around training and induction of new recruitments. I have been saying to the Defence Forces leadership that these issues need review and evaluation with a view to encouraging throughput, which is not just about getting people into the training programmes but maintaining them right through to recruitment and beyond.
