I propose to take Questions Nos. 170, 173 and 175 together.
As of the 30th August 2020, the latest date for which such data is available, the current strength of the Permanent Defence Force was 8,374 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) personnel, comprised of 6,763 Army personnel, 716 Air Corps personnel and 895 Naval Service personnel.
The following table shows the equivalent data for years 2010-2019: -I wish to advise the Deputy that the strength figures for the period 2010-2012 include personnel who were on secondment to other organisations or on career breaks. The strength figures for 2013 onwards are calculated net of those personnel.
Branch
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
Army
|
7,752
|
7,650
|
7,510
|
7,434
|
7,457
|
7,309
|
7,332
|
7,386
|
7,243
|
7,002
|
Air Corps
|
766
|
791
|
791
|
779
|
766
|
748
|
704
|
734
|
725
|
721
|
Naval Service
|
1,032
|
997
|
1,058
|
1,023
|
1,057
|
1,083
|
1,090
|
1,053
|
989
|
936
|
Total
|
9,550
|
9,438
|
9,359
|
9,236
|
9,280
|
9,140
|
9,126
|
9,173
|
8,957
|
8,659
|
The Government remains committed to returning to, and maintaining the agreed strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 9,500 personnel, as set out in the White Paper on Defence (2015).
While the Covid 19 situation did impact on the capacity of the Defence Forces to induct and train personnel, all recruitment activities have now resumed, taking public health guidelines into account. As at 30th September, the 2020 recruitment plan had resulted 8,227 applications and some 1,300 of those were for the Air Corps.
To date, 340 personnel have been inducted in 2020 and, in respect of the Air Corps, this includes 8 Air Corps cadets, 19 Air Corps Apprentices, 3 re-commissioned officers and 5 re-enlisted personnel.