Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will provide the Chairman with some figures in this regard. This year, up to 10 November, a total of 111 officers and 174 enlisted personnel have been promoted. The non-commissioned officer, NCO, competitions have just concluded and it is expected that promotions from the panels formed will commence in the near future on or about 15 December. It is anticipated that once promotions commence, they will continue into 2015, along with ongoing officer promotions as vacancies arise. It is true to say that until a year or so ago, there were not as many promotions as there had been in previous years. However, I believe there now has been a return to recruitment and quite a lot of promotions within the Defence Forces because the numbers of the actual overall force are not being cut. The Defence Forces have made extraordinary changes over the past five or six years in reconfiguring the way in which the entire Defence Forces infrastructure in Ireland operates and interacts.

They have shown a remarkable capacity to be flexible in facilitating that. The number, which is now 9,500, is not going to be cut any further. That should facilitate vacancies and promotions as people retire as well as new recruitment, as we are seeing at the moment.