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

I agree with the Tánaiste's final point. The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces has outlined the procedures that are in place for joining the Defence Forces. They would make your head spin. I am sure the Tánaiste will acknowledge that he told the Dáil this time last year that the budget had provided funding for a net increase of 400 personnel within the Defence Forces in 2023. So far this year, there are 300 fewer people in the Defence Forces than there were last year. Does he accept that the work done over the past 12 months has not been sufficient to address the tide of departures? What does he consider to be a failure? If he sets targets and fails to meet them, and the situation gets worse in terms of there being more people leaving the Defence Force than joining, when does he consider it appropriate to sit down with the representative organisations for Defence Forces members and set out a plan that has their agreement and will address the haemorrhaging of personnel we are witnessing? Our Defence Forces are nowhere near the optimal level in current strength and absolutely miles away from the strength that is envisaged in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.

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