Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that there was already a recruitment and retention crisis within the Defence Forces when the Government came to office. The job of the Government was to address that by stemming the exodus of highly trained men and women from our Army, Naval Service and Air Corps and beginning to rebuild. We all accept this was a significant task, considering the underinvestment for the preceding decade. At that time, there was an establishment figure of approximately 9,500. The starting point when the Government took office was that there were 8,650 personnel in place. When the Tánaiste took the reins as Minister for Defence halfway through the lifetime of the Government, that number was down to 7,966. Since then, the establishment figure has increased to 9,600, but the latest figure I have shows a current strength of 7,671 personnel. For all the actions the Tánaiste has outlined, does he accept we still have a situation where more people are leaving the Defence Forces than are joining, and when does he expect that to change? I ask that he answer with reference to target numbers for personnel within the Defence Forces this year and over the next number of years.

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