Proinsias De Rossa
Ceist:99 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Defence the progress made to date in the recruitment campaign announced by him on 14 March 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13775/01]
Written Answers - Defence Forces Recruitment.
Ceist:
122 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Defence the cost of the recent recruitment campaign; the particular efforts which have been made by his Department to recruit school leavers; the number of long-term unemployed recruited in the past year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13795/01]
Gerry Reynolds
Ceist:129 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Defence the strength of the Defence Forces; if new recruitment initiatives are proposed; and if he proposes to reduce the number of Defence Forces personnel. [13829/01]
Alan Shatter
Ceist:181 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Defence the current strength of the Defence Forces; if any new recruitment initiatives have been proposed; and if he proposes to reduce the current number of Defence Forces personnel. [13878/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 99, 122, 129 and 181 together.
The White Paper sets out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force, comprising 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. The strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 31 March 2001 was 10,625. In the year 2001 to date a total of 201 general service recruits have been enlisted in the Defence Forces.
It is my intention to maintain the established Government policy of continuous recruitment to fill vacancies as required. I launched the Defence Forces 2001 general service recruiting campaign in March 2001 which was followed by national and local media advertising. Careers in the Defence Forces are promoted throughout the country with activities such as military displays, visits to schools to promote careers in the Defence Forces, the distribution of information leaflets and booklets to schools and FÁS offices. These activities will be ongoing in 2001. The cost of the 2001 recruitment campaign to date is £63,000 approximately. All the general service recruitment, apprenticeship and cadetship competitions are open to school leavers. No statistical data is available in relation to the numbers of long-term unemployed recruited to the Permanent Defence Forces.
Question No. 100 answered with Question No. 89.
Question No. 101 answered with Question No. 94.
Question No. 102 answered with Question No. 76.