Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

Go raibh maith agat. I note that the last time we were here for Question Time, the Minister indicated that we were 123 below 10,000, a number that has increased by 21 in the interim, a figure that is less than I had expected. Obviously, this has another impact in terms of positions that will become available for recruitment. The question posed asked about rank, brigade, age and so on. In terms of the people who are leaving the forces is there any direction the Minister can give us as to what level they are leaving at, whether officer, NCO or private level, and from where are those who are leaving coming?

Is there any breakdown of where the people making up the increase in numbers of 21 since last month? From which branch of the services do they come and what rank do they have?

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