Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 November 2022
32. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Defence the specific action his Department has taken in relation to the recruitment of aircraft technicians given the levels of vacancies that currently exist in the Air Corps and the buoyant Irish aviation market. [58289/22]
View answer37. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Defence if he is satisfied with the level of uptake on the current recruitment drive for the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58421/22]
View answer47. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Defence the steps that his Department is taking to promote Ireland's highly qualified defence forces personnel staying in the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57958/22]
View answer55. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide an update on the current level of interest in starting a career in the Defence Forces in comparison to previous years, particularly among women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57486/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 37, 47 and 55 together.
The military authorities have advised that there are currently 147 Aircraft Technician vacancies and a robust training pipeline with 64 apprentices currently in training. In 2021 a new Direct Entry recruitment competition was introduced to complement the existing apprenticeship recruitment stream and this resulted in 3 personnel, who already possessed the necessary technical qualifications to operate as aircraft technicians, being inducted in 2021. 122 applications were received in 2022 and these are currently being processed.
This level of interest in joining the Defence Forces is reflected in the total applications across all competitions, averaging some 10,000 per year in 2020 and 2021 and some 7,000 being received by the end of October 2022, with further applications expected by year end.
The number of female applications accounted for some 12% of all applications received in both of the preceding years and to date in 2022. In line with current policies and commitments, a number of initiatives are already in place with a view to increasing the level of female participation and special consideration is paid to women as a target group for recruitment.
My focus is on bringing the strength of the Defence Forces to the numbers required to meet the agreed level of ambition arising from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. In addition to the "Be More" recruitment campaign that was launched this year, there are a number of other initiatives which are presently being implemented to counter current staffing challenges including:
- Commitment schemes in the Air Corps and Naval Service
- A special tax credit for seagoing Naval Service personnel
- Re-entry schemes for former personnel
- Ongoing recruitment, including direct entry competitions
- The ongoing review of the scope, and terms and conditions, of direct entry competitions to improve intakes
- Significant progress on pay within the Defence Forces arising from increases from recent pay agreements
The capacity of the Defence Forces to undertake the tasks assigned by Government continues to be carefully monitored to ensure that they retain their ability to operate effectively across all roles and to undertake the tasks laid down by Government, both at home and abroad.
