Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 12 Dec 2002

Vol. 559 No. 3

Written Answers. - Defence Forces Strength.

Jim O'Keeffe

Ceist:

7 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence the present numbers in the Defence Forces; and his plans for recruitment. [25969/02]

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

10 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence the extent to which he can set out targets in respect of the strength of the Permanent Defence Forces for the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26121/02]

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

64 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence his preferred options in terms of the strength of the Defence Forces in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26233/02]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 10 and 64 together.

The White Paper on Defence of February 2000 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 Army, air corps and Naval Service, as at 30 November, 2002, broken down by rank and gender, is provided in the form of the following tabular statement.

Strength of Females in the Defence Forces, 30 November 2002

	Lt Gen	Maj Gen	Brig Gen	Col	Lt Col	Comdt	Capt	Lt	Total Offrs	SM	BQMS	CS	CQMS	Sgts	Cpls	Total NCOs	Ptes	Cadets	Total
Army	0	0	0	0	0	12	30	28	70	0	0	1	1	11	76	89	224	13	396
Air Corps	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	5	6	13	2	23
Naval Service	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	14	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	40	6	61

Strength of Males in the Defence Forces, 30 November 2002

	Lt Gen	Maj Gen	Brig Gen	Col	Lt Col	Comdt	Capt	Lt	Total Offrs	SM	BQMS	CS	CQMS	Sgts	Cpls	Total NCOs	Ptes	Cadets	Total
Army	1	3	7	35	115	352	249	169	931	35	37	137	248	1,036	1,556	3,049	4,199	88	8,267
Air Corps	0	0	0	2	13	35	25	50	125	7	2	47	13	107	213	389	357	19	890
Naval Service	0	0	1	2	13	42	24	41	123	7	7	74	16	190	138	432	404	15	974