Vol. 555 No. 5
136 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence the number of recruits he planned to have joined the Defence Forces in the respective branches by the end of 2002; the number who have joined to date; if the recruitment drive is still ongoing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19355/02]
137 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence the cost of the current recruitment drive for the Defence Forces to date; the total amount to be spent on the recruitment drive; when the current recruitment drive will come to an end; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19356/02]
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together.
The White Paper sets out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force, comprising of 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. In addition, there is provision for up to 250 recruits in training. I launched the Defence Forces recruitment campaign on 12 February 2002. The main purpose of this two year campaign is to promote the role of the Defence Forces and to highlight the variety of rewarding career opportunities available in the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service. The cross media campaign includes radio, press, television, cinema and Internet advertisement and will involve the expenditure of up to €2.5 million up to the end of 2003.
Since the launch of the cross media campaign, €1,193,300 has been expended to date on recruitment including general service recruitment. Up to 30 September 2002, the latest date for which the recruitment figures for 2002 are available, 367 general service recruits have been enlisted, 298 to the Army and 69 to the Naval Service. It is not possible to indicate the total numbers to be recruited up to the end of the year. I propose, however, to maintain the established Government policy of continuous recruitment to the Defence Forces in the year 2002, to fill vacancies as required.
