Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When I entered government and had the privilege of being appointed Minister for Justice and Equality and Defence, I discovered in the defence area that the way funding had been allocated by the Deputy's predecessors in government was to make a pretence of the amount available for the current members of the Defence Forces when in reality the Defence Forces were heading towards a position where their numbers would be lower than 8,000. The Government has provided for and guaranteed a strength of 9,500 personnel for the Defence Forces. As a consequence, I am proud of the fact that in 2012 we recruited 600 new members for the Defence Forces.

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