Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence to meet Minister Kehoe on recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces

Deputies and Senators will hear from Paul Kehoe TD, Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Defence with special responsibility for Defence.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Committee Chairman Brendan Smith TD said: “We have a recruitment and retention crisis in our Defence Forces which is leaving many critical areas under-strength. The Naval Service has ships without crews, the Air Corps has a shortage of pilots and key army units like Explosive Ordnance Disposal lack sufficient specialist personnel. We look forward to hearing how Minister Kehoe plans to address these problems, stem the exodus and bring our Defence Forces back to its allocated strength.”

Watch the Committee meeting live.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.