Barry Cowen
Question:52. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the strength of the permanent Defence Force as of 1 January 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2724/24]
View answerTuesday, 23 January 2024
Questions (52, 65)
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:65. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence what action he will be taking to stabilise the numbers within the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2600/24]
View answerOral answers (6 contributions)
Can the Tánaiste give me an update on the strengths of the Permanent Defence Forces as of 1 January 2024 and will he make a statement on the matter? This question No. 65 is grouped with question No. 52.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 65 together.
I thank the Deputy for raising the question. As I outlined earlier to Deputies, the military authorities have advised that as of 31 December 2023, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,550 personnel. A total of 750 personnel were discharged in 2023 and 415 personnel were inducted. The Commission on the Defence Forces stated in its report that it was satisfied that, in broad terms, levels of average turnover are not out of line with other military organisations internationally.
In an effort to stabilise numbers, I have instructed that additional enlisted personnel and cadets be recruited in 2024 beyond the projected induction figure, and for military management to respond with their plan to implement this action. An allocation of €1.23 billion for the defence sector in budget 2024, which includes a provision for the recruitment and training of at least a net additional 400 enlisted personnel in 2024, will assist in this regard.
Current strategies on recruitment in the Defence Forces will also support efforts to stabilise numbers. The Defence Forces have engaged a marketing and media partner to assist with recruitment advertising to ensure engagement with the recruitment demographic across social media and other media platforms. Specific advertising for specialist recruitment is placed in industry specific publications and websites. As part of the Naval Service specific recruitment campaign, phase 3 of a Naval Service recruitment advertisement will launch in the last week of January 2024.
I discussed earlier the Be More with the Irish Defence Forces campaign which continues to talk about opportunities in the Defence Forces.
The establishment of the joint induction training centre in Gormanstown will also greatly assist with recruitment into the future. Military management advise that when fully operational, it will enable induction training to be provided to 900 recruits per annum. That is a significant investment.
We then have the recruitment of cadets and direct entry specialists which will continue in 2024 and is expected to expand as the terms and conditions of a new Air Corps cadetship stream and direct entry officer role are under consideration, as are further increases in age limits for entry. We have increased the limits by which people can join the Army and the Defence Forces.
We brought in specialist external expertise to look at the entire recruitment processes in the Defence Forces to validate them and to advise on recruitment processes. They made significant recommendations. Suffice it to say that change is needed in the recruitment processes and in how we can optimise our spending in the media and in recruitment more generally.
It is encouraging to note that the intake is progressing a bit more favourably this year. I acknowledge that additional funding which the Tánaiste mentioned in the previous budget where I think that €67 million specifically was allocated to address retention issues and that a further €1.5 billion will be allocated over the next five years. With regard to the optimum figure of 11,500 Defence Forces members as a standing service of overall numbers, I believe the Tánaiste said here previously that to achieve that would be very challenging.
On the projections the Minister is receiving from his officials, how quickly will the Department meet the target of 11,500 acting servicemen and women? He mentioned in his initial response that the Department is consulting external recruitment expertise. Will he elaborate on what that involves? Is it liaising with other defence ministries abroad? What is meant by external expertise?
The level of turnover in the Defence Forces was approximately 10% in 2023. That includes those in training. The military advice is that is not unusual across the globe.
On the specific point, we brought in a specialist company to examine recruitment processes within the Defence Forces, especially the Naval Service, which is critical. What is happening in the Naval Service is not satisfactory. The company has outlined and identified areas for significant improvement in how the Defence Forces recruit and how we can convert more. That has to do with the interval periods between applications and people being brought in for training. The pay rates have been substantially increased. For a starter, pay is now significantly ahead of other similar grades in the public service. We must look at the retirement ages to improve retention and I hope we will have announcements on that front soon. It is important. Then there is raising the age at which people can join. The age limits are historical and do not conform with modern lifespans or the abilities of people at different ages today and we must grasp that nettle.
On that specific point, the age limit has been increased in other sectors, including the Garda, recently and, therefore, I do not see why the Government would not envisage something like that in future for the Defence Forces.
Coming back to the Minister's point about stabilising figures, which I think he said was his immediate priority last autumn, I do not expect him to have a crystal ball but from dealing with his officials, is there enough capacity at the moment with respect to applications and recruitment that he thinks he has stabilised the numbers we are losing, namely, the 10% he spoke of? We have spoken previously about how challenging the labour market is at the moment and the demand for people who have come from the Defence Forces in other sectors. When will the Minister achieve that stabilisation? Does he have any comment on the working time directive, the kinds of conditions the armed forces are working under and progress on that?
The Deputy said it himself at the outset and I think we are seeing trends in the gap between inductions and people retiring narrowing. The first objective is to stabilise that and get to a net increase figure. It is going to take some time before we get back to establishment level, never mind the target of the Commission on the Defence Forces. The service limits for privates, corporals and sergeants have been extended on an interim basis to the end of this year, so we will need a decision shortly on creating a sustained picture and narrative for those currently in the Defence Forces.
We have made very good progress on the organisation of working time directive and a submission has come to me on it. I expect to make decisions to activate that, in the sense of beginning the process of including the Defence Forces under the directive, which has been an objective of mine. My officials have worked hard with the Defence Forces, military management and the representative associations and a considerable degree of agreement has been reached. There is not total agreement on every issue, but progress has certainly been made in this area.