Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 October 2017
215. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the strength of the Defence Forces including Reserve, Army, Naval Service and Air Corps; the number of women in each branch of the services; the likelihood of recruitment or replacements following retirements in 2017 and over the next five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44248/17]
View answerThe following table below sets out the information requested by the Deputy as of 30 September 2017.
|
Army |
Navy |
Air Corps |
Army Reserve &Naval Service Reserve |
|
|
Strength (WTE) |
7,282 |
1,075 |
705 |
1,916 (effective) |
|
Female Strength (WTE) |
486 |
65 |
35 |
279 (effective) |
The 2015 White Paper on Defence commits to maintaining the strength of the PDF at 9,500 personnel, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service. In that regard, there is significant ongoing recruitment at both enlisted and officer level. A range of recruitment methods are being employed including direct entry competitions for specialist positions and the scope to further expand direct entry is being considered.
There have been two General Service Recruitment Campaigns this year.
A campaign was launched in February 2017 so as to provide a panel of recruits for this year. This campaign resulted in a total of 5,210 applicants (of which 661 were female), broken down as follows:
- Army – 3,785 (479F)
- Naval Service – 1,425 (182F)
A new General Service Recruitment Campaign was launched in September 2017 and closes on the 27 October, 2017. This will provide a panel for recruit inductions in 2018. There have been 2,172 application so far (of which 283 were female), broken down as follows:
- Army – 1,594 (185F)
- Naval Service 2017 – 578 (98F)
So far in 2017, 566 enlisted personnel have been inducted together with 99 Officer Cadets. It is estimated that approximately 800 personnel will be inducted by end 2017.
With regard to the Reserve Defence Force, a General Service Recruitment campaign was conducted between 26 July 2017 and 6 September 2017. There were 1,221 applicants to this campaign of which 162 were female. These applications remain under administration through the recruitment process by the Brigades and Formations.
The manpower requirement of the Defence Forces is monitored on an ongoing basis in accordance with operational requirements of each of the three services. As stated in the 2015 White Paper on Defence, continuous recruitment is the lifeblood of the Defence Forces providing young, motivated and enthusiastic personnel to replenish military formations for operational deployments. Over the course of the White Paper, the Government are committed to retaining a PDF establishment of 9,500 serving personnel. To this end, the Defence Forces will review and develop rolling medium term manpower planning requirements so as to deliver an effective and efficient workforce mix in terms of age profile, skills, competencies and experience, and current personnel policies to support this will be further developed and implemented.
With the support of the Chief of Staff and within the resources available, the Government is committed to retaining the capacity of the Defence Forces to operate effectively across all roles and to undertake the tasks laid down by Government both at home and overseas.
