Mr. Maurice Quinn:

It is perhaps related two issues: the fantastic commemorations during 2016 and the amount of work, led by the Chief of Staff, being done on the gender issue in terms of encouraging more women to join the Defence Forces. There is also the general campaign to get people to join the Defence Forces. Recruitment is a factor of turnover in terms of the increased rate of loss of members of the Defence Forces, both officers and enlisted, that we are experiencing. Some 690 people were inducted in 2016. Recruitment has been ongoing since 2008. While the numbers have adjusted we are still at the stage of having to run to keep pace with the losses in order to retain the coherence of the force.