Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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644. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the failure to address the manning crisis in the Defence Forces since 2013 is a planned measure to create the necessary payroll savings to purchase essential equipment platforms. [15159/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Permanent Defence Force (PDF) pay provision in Vote 36 Defence provides for, and is fully funded to meet, the payroll costs of the target strength of 9,500 personnel.

Despite the required reduction in public sector funding and reduced resource envelope available in recent years, ongoing recruitment to the PDF has continued. The White Paper on Defence has confirmed the Government’s commitment to maintain PDF strength at the 9,500 level. In 2015, 416 personnel were inducted into the Defence Forces, with 690 inducted in 2016. With regard to 2017, I recently launched a recruitment campaign which targets 860 new entrants across the Defence Forces this year.

Notwithstanding these significant recruitment endeavours, there have been savings on pay and allowances in the Defence Vote due to the high number of retirements. These savings have been utilised to purchase and upgrade essential equipment. It is my priority to ensure that the Defence Forces continue to have the necessary level of resources, both personnel and equipment, required to fulfil all the roles assigned to them by Government, into the future.