Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The sum of €28 million is being taken from the pay budget. It is needed for pay. The personnel are needed and they obviously need to be remunerated adequately and to have adequate conditions. We need the numbers. Is the current strength of the Permanent Defence Force 9,000? The Department and successive Ministers always stated they did not want the number to decrease below 9,500. Am I accurate in saying that?