Vol. 542 No. 4
10 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Defence the number of applications received to date under the new recruitment campaign announced by him on 14 March 2001; the number of personnel recruited to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24449/01]
I launched the Defence Forces 2001 General Service Recruiting Campaign in March 2001. This was followed by national and local media advertising.
The military authorities advise that since 14 March 2001 a total of 1,047 applications for general service recruitment have been received. A total of 520 successful applicants have enlisted in the Permanent Defence Force in the period 14 March to 30 September 2001. In addition, some 135 recruits were enlisted over the period 1 January to 14 March 2001. A number of applications are still being processed by the military authorities.
It is my intention to maintain the established Government policy of continuous recruitment to fill vacancies as required.
