Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 June 2016
581. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence when the next recruitment campaign for the Permanent Defence Force will be announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17209/16]
View answerThe Government is committed to maintaining the stabilised strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 9,500 personnel, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service as stated in the 2015 White Paper on Defence. The manpower requirement of the Defence Forces is monitored on an ongoing basis in accordance with the operational requirements of each of the three services, the establishment of the Permanent Defence Force and available resources. As there is significant turnover of personnel in the Permanent Defence Force targeted recruitment takes place so as to maintain personnel numbers at or near the agreed strength levels as set out above in accordance with available training capacity.
A General Service recruitment campaign that was launched on 13 April 2016, and the 2016 Cadet Competition launched on 16 March 2016, are both now closed and applications are being processed. It is envisaged that there will be an intake of 600 general services recruits in 2016 and a further 850 in 2017. This recruitment will be phased over the 2016 and 2017 period in a manner designed to increase personnel numbers towards the established strength and plans are being put in place to this end. Most of the new recruits this year will be drawn from the existing General Service panel. A new panel will be established from the current competition. Recruitment from this new panel is expected to commence towards the end of 2016 and will continue through 2017 and into 2018. It is too early at this stage to predict whether and when a 2017 competition may be required, as it will depend on the numbers who are successful in the current competition and are placed on the panel and the level of turnover in the Defence Forces.
