Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Department and the Defence Forces try at the start of every year to calculate how many retirements they expect in that calendar year. As I have said to the Deputy opposite, that fluctuates from time to time. It is very difficult to say exactly how many will retire. I have already indicated that personnel can retire from the Defence Forces for a variety of reasons and the Deputy will, therefore, appreciate that it is not possible to forecast retirements accurately for 2016 at this stage. However, I am advised by the military authorities that in 2015, 76 officers and 490 members of the enlisted ranks retired or were discharged and up to 21 May 2016, 34 officers and 193 in the enlisted ranks have retired or were discharged. In line with human resources policy, there is a significant turnover of personnel in the Permanent Defence Forces due to the requirement to maintain a lower age profile. I assure the Deputy that we continue to monitor this on an ongoing basis, to the best of the Department's and the Defence Forces' ability, to try to ensure that we replace the number of personnel retiring.

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