Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 23 May 2024
Public Accounts Committee
2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 - Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Defence
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2022
Chapter 12: Stock Management in the Defence Forces
9:30 am
Ms Jacqui McCrum:
The salaries the Deputy is looking at are from 2022. Since then, the starting salary has changed from €29,000 to €39,000, a 34% increase. That is what a recruit starts at now. Significant changes have been made between the time of this report and where we are now.
That is on the basis that we do need to retain and attract people. We are seeing that. We had over 8,000 applicants last year to join the Defence Forces and we have a very healthy pipeline again this year. So we are turning the tide on that.