Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That information would be statistically available and I will revert to the Chairman in respect of it.

In the context of what I was saying with regard to the huge importance of both renewal and the decision the Government made in the late autumn of 2011 to maintain the strength of the Defence Forces at 9,500, in 2008, when the financial crisis struck and the economic collapse began, some 556 people were recruited. Their recruitment was based on retirements and the need to bring in replacements. In 2009 only 47 staff were recruited and in 2010 only 45 were recruited. When I became Minister, the overall numbers were falling below 9,000. If there had been no recruitment in 2011, we could have reached the point where the strength of the Defence Forces would have fallen to 8,500. We steadied the ship at an early stage by recruiting 526 staff in 2011. This stabilised matters and brought numbers up well past 9,000. We then recruited 633 further staff in 2012 in order to try to bring numbers up to the objective strength level of 9,500. We solidified the position in this regard by taking on 404 recruits in 2013. This would not have been possible without people retiring on reaching 21 years of service. If the 21-year rule were not in place, we would be faced with greying and aging Defence Forces personnel.

Some 87 officer promotions took place in 2013. A total of 607 enlisted personnel were promoted last year. A further six such personnel were promoted in the period 1 to 14 January. A reasonable number of promotions are, therefore, taking place. These are promotions that are required. We must proceed on the basis of what is necessary in order to maintain operational efficiencies. That is the way in which we are approaching this matter.