Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The military authorities have advised me that as of 31 August 2024, the latest date for which such information is available, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,426. A table containing the requested induction and discharges figures for each year from 2020 to 2024 will be provided to the Deputy.

I have acknowledged in the past the recruitment and retention challenges in our Defence Forces. To address these I have introduced a number of measures. These include an increase in recruitment age to 39 years for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, and to 50 years for direct entry specialists. The mandatory retirement age has been increased to 62. Private secondary healthcare has been rolled out to all PDF members. The patrol duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year and the Naval Service tax credit has been extended for a further five years. There has also been significant progress on pay in recent years. Recruits on completion of training now start at €40,297 in year 1, while school-leaver cadets upon commissioning earn €44,216, while in full-time education.

I also instructed the military authorities to increase their recruitment targets beyond those originally projected for 2024, and some positive trends are now beginning to emerge. The latest strength figures represent a net month-on-month increase of 105 personnel. As of 30 September 2024, 494 personnel had been inducted and the latest advice from the military authorities indicates that they plan to have a further 250 further inductions in 2024. There had been 443 discharges as of 31 August, 35 fewer than at the same time last year. Interest in a career in the Defence Forces continues to rise, as evidenced by the total of 10,387 applications received across all competitions as of 30 September. This is more than the total number received for all of 2023.

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