Billy Timmins
Question:22 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Defence if he plans to review the strength of the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24601/01]
Written Answers. - Defence Forces Strength.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:93 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence the current strength, male and female of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24760/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 93 together.
The current strength, male and female of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps are detailed in the tabular statements which I propose to circulate in the Official Report.
The White Paper sets out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force, comprising 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. In addition, the chief of staff has discretion to have 250 recruits in training at any given time, over and above this figure of 10,500.
It is my intention to maintain the established Government policy of continuous recruitment to fill vacancies as required. I launched the Defence Forces 2001 General Service Recruiting Campaign in March 2001 which was followed by national and local media advertising.
Where the need arises, competitions are organised to recruit specialist personnel by direct entry, where required. Competitions have been advertised in recent years for medical officers, band instrumentalists, marine engineer officers, naval service watchkeeping officers, electrical artificers, Army engineer officers and radio radar technicians.
It is my intention to maintain a policy of continuous recruitment to fill vacancies as required. This will also help to achieve a balanced age profile in the Defence Forces.
Two air traffic control officers were commissioned from the ranks in 1998. In 1999 two non-commissioned officers were commissioned as electrical engineer officers in the Naval Service. Three non-commissioned personnel were commissioned for the information technology area in 2000. In September, 2001 eight non-commissioned officers were commissioned as watchkeeping officers in the Naval Service.
It would be naive to suggest that it is easy for the PDF to compete with the levels of remuneration and conditions now readily available within the private sector to those people with the required skills and experience. The recent tightening of the labour market is also a further factor to note.
As one might reasonably expect, members of the Permanent Defence Force, across all ranks, take up offers of civilian employment in times of economic prosperity. While this trend would also apply to some extent to certain other categories of public sector employees, there are two quite distinctive factors which specifically impinge upon the general PDF situation. The PDF pension schemes are among the most generous within the public service. For instance, an enlisted man or non-commissioned officer can retire with an immediate pension and retirement lump sum after some 21 years service, often implying a real potential for retirement at about age 40.
Moreover, in the case of commissioned officers, a pension is payable, along with a lump sum after the completion of 12 years military service. For example, an officer, such as an army captain or commandant, may retire from the PDF in his or her late 30s and immediately receive a military pension along with a retirement lump sum.
It is widely recognised, not least by private sector employers, that the programmes of personal development and training available in the Defence Forces are second to none and can stand comparison with the best in the private sector. This always applied across a wide range of traditional trades, such as electrical work and vehicle mechanics. Nowadays, however, military skills training is as likely to encompass well recognised courses of training as electronics and communications technicians and also qualifications in computer software and information technology. Many military personnel, in all ranks, are increasingly educated to diploma, degree and to post-graduate degree level in such readily marketable specialisms. Obviously, such personnel, already pre-trained and well experienced to the highest levels, are a tempting target to the private sector.
The majority, about 75%, of officer retirements are currently voluntary in that they are not compulsory determined by the reaching of a prescribed retirement age by the incumbent. Relatively few officers would stay in the PDF for the maximum period possible, that is, to their prescribed retirement age in rank. However, the positive features of turnover within officer ranks, and the consequential flow of promotions, must also be actively borne in mind.
The Defence Forces are not yet generally experiencing any difficulties in open public recruitment in that there are more than sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and motivated young people presenting for all levels of recruitment, including general service enlistment. It will be recalled that the present Government initiated an ongoing programme of rolling continuous general service recruitment and enlistment which continued very successfully with the year 2000 programme of general recruitment and this year has also proved to be successful. The Defence Forces continue to offer a range of attractive, stimulating and quite unique careers to motivated and capable young people.
In particular, the prestigious annual cadetship competition continues to draw a large applicant pool of well educated and academically talented school leavers, as clearly evidenced by the leaving certificate results of this year's applicants. There were 645 eligible individual applicants for this year's cadetship competition which resulted in the following numbers of successful applicants being appointed: Naval Service 6; Air Corps 77; Army-Equitation School 51.
Strength of Females in the Defence Forces 30 June 2001.
|
LtGen |
MajGen |
BrigGen |
Col |
LtCol |
Comdt |
Capt |
Lt |
TotalOffrs |
Sm |
Bqms |
Cs |
Cqms |
Sgts |
Cpls |
TotalNcos |
Ptes |
Cadets |
Total |
|
|
Army |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
29 |
30 |
68 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
52 |
65 |
224 |
5 |
362 |
|
Air Corps |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
14 |
2 |
25 |
|
Naval |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
6 |
51 |