Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 March 2017
218. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of personnel at all ranks, male and female, who have retired from the Defence Forces in each of the past four years and to date in 2017; the extent to which this has affected the overall strength of the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15708/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe manpower requirements of the Permanent Defence Force are monitored on an ongoing basis in accordance with the operational requirements of each of the three services. Personnel are posted on the basis of operational needs across the organisation both at home and abroad. As there is a significant turnover of personnel in the Defence Forces, targeted recruitment takes places on a regular basis so as to maintain personnel numbers at or near the agreed strength levels. Cadetship and General Service recruitment competitions have recently been launched and I am advised by the military authorities that the planned target is to induct 850 - 900 new entrants to the Defence Forces across all services and competition streams in 2017.
As of 28 February 2017 the whole time equivalent strength of the Permanent Defence Force was 9,070. The following table shows the number of retirements of all male and female personnel from the start of 2013 up until the end of February 2017. The total number of Defence Forces personnel who retired in the period requested was 2,225. In terms of overall strengths the Government is committed to maintaining the stabilised strength of the PDF at 9,500 personnel, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service as stated in the 2015 White Paper on Defence.
|
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 * |
TOTAL |
|
|
ARMY |
||||||
|
Officers (Male) |
37 |
50 |
48 |
59 |
8 |
202 |
|
Officers (Female) |
4 |
5 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
21 |
|
Other Ranks (Male) |
289 |
299 |
360 |
437 |
66 |
1451 |
|
Other Ranks (Female) |
19 |
17 |
15 |
14 |
3 |
68 |
|
349 |
371 |
432 |
513 |
77 |
1742 |
|
|
AIR CORPS |
||||||
|
Officers (Male) |
10 |
13 |
8 |
12 |
0 |
43 |
|
Officers (Female) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Other Ranks (Male) |
21 |
30 |
44 |
35 |
8 |
138 |
|
Other Ranks (Female) |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
31 |
43 |
57 |
49 |
8 |
188 |
|
|
NAVAL SERVICE |
||||||
|
Officers (Male) |
7 |
14 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
32 |
|
Officers (Female) |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
Other Ranks (Male) |
54 |
40 |
56 |
85 |
14 |
249 |
|
Other Ranks (Female) |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
|
65 |
55 |
67 |
93 |
15 |
295 |
|
|
445 |
469 |
556 |
655 |
100 |
2225 |
|
