Defence Forces Personnel Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 May 2018

Tuesday, 8 May 2018

Ceisteanna (99, 100, 101)

Jack Chambers

Ceist:

99. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if media reports that in 2016 it cost the taxpayer €15 million to replace Defence Forces personnel that left were accurate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19817/18]

Jack Chambers

Ceist:

100. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of members of the Permanent Defence Force in whole-time equivalent terms, that left the service in each of the years 2013 to 2017, for reasons other than retirement; the branch of the service of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19818/18]

Jack Chambers

Ceist:

101. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the estimated savings that would be made in terms of training and recruitment if the numbers leaving the Permanent Defence Force in 2018 for reasons other than retirement were halved relative to 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19819/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 to 101, inclusive, together.

Given the unique and demanding nature of military life, there is understandably a relatively high level of turnover among Defence Forces personnel. This is not new and the Permanent Defence Force has always had a level of turnover that far exceeds other areas of the public service. This is a necessary feature of military organisations and allows for continuous renewal, promotions etc.

The table below sets out the numbers leaving for each of the years from 2002 to 2017.

-	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
LT GEN	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
MAJ GEN	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
BRIG GEN	3	2	0	1	2	1	1	3	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	3
COL	2	6	5	5	5	9	1	14	5	7	8	3	8	2	9	8
LT COL	13	7	6	10	6	12	13	18	17	10	16	12	16	12	12	16
COMDT	20	19	12	19	27	28	26	33	21	38	31	20	28	22	35	23
CAPT	13	6	9	10	10	9	7	10	11	13	11	20	19	30	21	20
LT	6	1	3	7	2	3	1	2	0	4	2	2	8	5	2	6
Officers	58	41	37	53	52	63	49	82	56	74	70	59	81	75	80	76
SGT MAJOR	4	4	6	11	6	6	4	9	4	3	7	0	5	1	3	8
BQMS	9	2	4	2	7	7	1	12	7	8	2	1	5	3	1	9
CS/FS/BS	18	16	22	9	16	28	16	22	32	26	36	11	19	20	25	21
CQMS/FQMS	12	15	13	14	22	19	20	24	26	26	38	14	13	11	15	19
SGT	86	67	76	54	75	60	73	93	70	84	117	52	44	73	97	71
CPL	90	80	62	60	68	85	70	59	82	79	110	55	39	70	47	57
PTE 3 *	297	217	162	174	215	193	131	164	208	271	258	147	141	217	218	237
Other Ranks	516	401	345	324	409	398	315	383	429	497	568	280	266	395	406	422
CADET	8	6	9	5	8	7	2	2	3	5	4	2	4	8	7	12
PTE 2 *	35	20	12	33	24	28	28	12	8	9	10	19	13	12	32	24
APPRENTICE	3	4	3	3	8	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	2
GRADE 1	112	107	138	110	88	150	149	7	2	56	111	85	104	66	126	171
In Initial Training	158	137	162	151	128	188	179	24	14	70	125	106	122	86	169	209
Total	732	579	544	528	589	649	543	489	499	641	763	445	469	556	655	707

Discharges from the Defence Forces are recorded under a number of headings without a specific definition of retirement which can be either voluntary or involuntary. The headings range from "at their own request", purchase of discharge, end of contract or reaching age limits.

The figure of €15 million reported by the media is an estimate, provided by the military authorities, of the cost of training the same number of personnel as those who left voluntarily in 2016. The majority of the estimated cost is the pay of those individuals being trained and the pay of their training staff. There is significant scope for misinterpretation of such cost estimates and it is not accurate to infer that the level of savings reported by the media would occur within the Vote if this number of personnel did not leave the Defence Forces.

As the long terms trends illustrate, departure rates at half the level of those of 2017 have not occurred in the period since 2002. Accordingly, the Department of Defence has not engaged in an estimate of savings for this eventuality.