Peadar Tóibín
Question:17. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence what steps his Department is taking to increase recruitment and retention within the Defence Forces. [4514/24]
View answerWednesday, 31 January 2024
Questions (17)
Written answers
The military authorities have advised that, as at 31 December 2023, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,550 personnel.
I have previously acknowledged the current staffing difficulties in the Defence Forces and, to counter these, there are a number of recruitment and retention initiatives currently underway. These include ongoing general service and direct entry recruitment, the re-entry schemes, the 'Be More' recruitment campaign, significant progress on basic pay, the roll out of private medical care to all ranks and the introduction of a new Patrol Duty Allowance which doubled existing rates.
In other actions, a Joint Induction Training Centre has been established in Gormanston which, when fully operational, will enable induction training to be provided to 900 recruits per annum; the maximum recruitment age limits for General Service Recruits, Apprentices and certain Direct Entry specialists was increased to 29 years in 2023, with further increases in these age limits and for other streams being considered; fitness test scoring has been amended to maximise induction levels and a marine specialist recruitment body has been contracted to target individuals required by the Naval Service. Furthermore, recommendations recently received following external validation of the Defence Forces recruitment process will assist in addressing recruitment challenges.
My immediate focus remains on stabilising the numbers of personnel, and to facilitate capacity for further increases.