Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

From the most recent figures available, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force is currently 9,219 personnel, or 97% of the establishment of 9,500 personnel. To return to and maintain the agreed strength levels, significant targeted recruitment has taken place in 2017 which resulted to date in 702 personnel being inducted, comprising general service recruits, cadets and specialists for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service. Similar recruitment campaigns are being planned for 2018.

As I have previously outlined, there are particular challenges with vacancies in certain specialist posts, such as pilots, air traffic controllers and certain technicians. These specialists can prove difficult to retain where, as in the current economic circumstances, there are ongoing private sector and commercial semi-State sector job opportunities.

The number of officers as at 31 October 2017 is 1,056 out of an establishment of 1,233. The number of cadets in training has substantially increased recently, with 100 cadets having been recruited in each of the years 2016 and 2017. Approximately 70 Army cadets will be commissioned in January 2018.

To address these difficulties, a range of recruitment methods are being employed, including direct entry competitions for specialist positions. I have directed the civil and military management to develop proposals for expanding such direct entry recruitment of specialists and a scheme to facilitate former members of the Permanent Defence Force with appropriate skill sets to re-enter the Defence Forces. The Public Service Pay Commission will further examine the issue of retention of specialist personnel in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020.

In tandem with these actions, my Department is also engaged in planning on a longer-term basis. Projects arising from the White Paper on Defence around topics such as medium-term manpower planning and encouraging as wide a pool as possible for recruitment are already under way. Further projects, scheduled to begin in the new year, will address issues such as age profiles and a gap analysis of skill sets within the Permanent Defence Force. The gap analysis will help to identify the frequency of such gaps and identify appropriate measures to address them.

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