Vol. 432 No. 8
23 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Defence if the overall strength of the Defence Forces has increased since 1979; and if not, if the increase in the officer strength of the Defence Forces Headquarters has resulted in a decrease in the officer strength of operational units.
85 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Defence the total number of officers currently posted or attached to Defence Forces Headquarters; and the number who were so posted or attached in 1979.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 85 together.
At present 116 officers are posted to established appointments in Defence Forces Headquarters with a further 43 officers on attachment. In 1979, the corresponding figure for postings was 106 while it is estimated from records available that approximately 34 officers were on attachment. In the same period the total number of officers serving in the Permanent Defence Force has risen from 1,470 to 1,553. There has been no decrease in the number of officers available to serve in operational units.
On 31 December, 1979 there were 13,274 personnel in the PDF while the corresponding figure on 30 April, 1993 was 12,791.
